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Suzi talks with Jason Jarman, US Army Veteran and Program Manager for MVP Seattle about childhood trauma, service and creating his own wellness practices for healing. 

Jason's Bio
I was raised in a very chaotic household. My Dad left when I was 7 y/o, leaving my Mom to raise 4 boys on her own. I am the youngest of those 4. Looking back, I realized that I attached to anyone that gave me attention, which made me very vulnerable to childhood sexual abuse. I was molested by two men, with two very different agendas. One groomed me with gifts and vacations that a father would’ve normally done for me. He, honestly, was a good person and never hurt me. Weird to say, but I never felt “used” by J.R. The other man, however, was all about his sick satisfaction. He later was caught and spent the rest of his life in jail where he died from testicular cancer. Poetic justice, I say.

That leads me to getting out of “Dodge” by joining the Army out of high school. I served as an Infantryman in Fairbanks Ak. @ Ft. Wainwright. The Army seemed to embrace me because I embraced it. I fit in and I became someone. Someone that stood out. I set the record for time in the night land navigation test for the Expert Infantry Badge and received an ARCOM for that. I placed 1st in consecutive marksmanship competitions for the 6th Inf. Division for all 3 bases in Alaska. I received another ARCOM for that. I never fired a weapon before the Army, and I was honored to have received the E.I.C. Excellence In Competition badge. A badge rare enough that while wearing it during an inspection the CSM asked what it was. To that my squad leader answered, “That means he can put a round up a tick’s ass from 1,000 meters.” I say this not to brag, but to show that the Army and I just clicked.

I got married and had 3 kids in Alaska. I got out of the Army due to the wife, now ex, talked me into leaving. I came back home to Renton, WA. That’s my hometown. I was working for Boeing until the 9/11 attacks. That is when I was laid off. Instead of going to school and collecting unemployment, I reenlisted as an Infantryman and went to Iraq to fight. I was a good Infantryman and wanted to do my part in this generation’s war.

After discharge, I struggled as most of us do. I didn’t let the VA help me. I turned to the streets for instant gratification. During that time, I lost my wife of 20 plus years to liver failure. This was almost enough to finish me. I didn’t want to be here anymore. I started doing things that were very outrageous to end my life so it would look like an accident to my family. I eventually ended up in a long-term treatment facility where I began to work on myself. I was asked by another veteran, “Jason, did you win any firefights in Iraq by yourself? What makes you think you can win any battles here at home on your own?” That was the moment that I “got it.” I spent a total of 5 months in 2 separate inpatient facilities. I got out and

Music credit to Kalvin Love for the podcast’s theme song “Bee Your Best Self”

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