Lieutenant Joseph Tormolen was an officer of Star Fleet who died in the line of duty as a result of exposure to an unusual affliction contracted on an alien planet. Joe Tormolen was born in 2237 on Earth, in the northwestern region of North America. He had a fascination for space travel from an early age, in spite of a religious upbringing in a sect which taught that man was not meant to travel in space. This conflict would mark his psychology for much of his life, although he was able to overcome it and achieve his commission as a Star Fleet officer, winning an early assignment to the Enterprise (NCC 1701), a newly commissioned starship, on her original five year service assignment.It was while on board the Enterprise that Tormolen met his unfortunate fate. On stardate 1704.2, Tormolen and Commander Spock beamed down to a science outpost on the planet Psi 2000 to investigate the mysterious subspace radio silence of the scientific team monitoring the breakup of that planet. They found all six members of the team dead, apparently at one another's hands in the throes of some form of space madness. Unfortunately, Tormolen broke quarantine procedures and removed his glove, touching a panel and contracting the odd ailment.This form of disease was unfamilar to bio-scanners at the time, and so the ship's doctor, McCoy, missed it in checking the landing party over. Tormolen soon began exhibiting symptoms, however, notably a pronounced concern about the morality of space travel, in addition to heightened persperation. When the madness hit, he attacked fellow officers with a butter knife before turning it on himself and doing serious damage to his intestinal region. He was taken to sickbay, where the doctor tried desperately to repair the damage, but Tormolen died on the operating table - apparently due in part to his own loss of the will to live.In spite of his unfortunate mistake and the harm it caused the Enterprise, Captain James Kirk gave Tormolen a posthumous commendation and, in notifying his family of his death, referred to him as an exemplary officer and a man I was proud to serve with. It is rumored that the family's religious sect declared Kirk to be in league with the Devil. Show less «