JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Rossano Smith is a highly decorated veteran who served in the U.S. military for more than 20 years. He was in the Marines and Navy, and served in the Gulf War.
"He always tells me I will never understand what he's been through, to hold his friend in his arm and see his friend die in his arm," said Lionel Smith, Rossano's father. "He told me so many things that happened that I didn't realize were happening to my son."
Lionel Smith said his son suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, which he tries to drown in alcohol, a move that has led to several DUI charges, domestic violence and, most recently, leaving an accident scene on a suspended license.
"I would have preferred my son came back in a black bag than to see him suffer the way he has," Lionel Smith said.
He said his son deserves punishment, but what he needs more right now is help. He said the judge denied him enrollment in Veterans Court.
"If the Veterans Court steps in, why not let that happen?" Lionel Smith said. "And if he fails it or violates it, then he's back in front of you and then you can deal with him. But you never give him the chance, and that's what concerns me right now -- he didn't get the chance."
Veterans Court is a rigorous two-year program that helps military men and women get their lives back on track.
"The program works," Lionel Smith said. "They had 15 graduates since last year, and they're doing well, some of them worse than my son."
But Lionel Smith said the program wouldn't accept his son, and he's trying to get the former military supervisor and family man the help he needs before he's released from jail and resorts back to the bottle.
"I can imagine how many veterans are out there that don't have a dad like me or another family member to be an advocate for their situation," Lionel Smith said. "So if there's a legacy that I would like to leave behind, it's to continue this fight, even beyond my son."
The drug court administrator said Rossano Smith was eligible for the program, but the judge denied him enrollment based on the evidence and facts presented to him.