From Nirvana to Green Beret

With Veterans' Day just around the corner, and as a disabled veteran myself, I would like to give a shoutout to my brothers and sisters for being the one percent in this country who decided to give your all for the country. Many of us did not have to join, but we all had one thing in common - Patriotism.

And I want to shine a light on a veteran who certainly did not have to join but did.

Jason Everman was born in Ouzinkie, Alaska, in 1967. He was a toddler when his parents divorced and he moved to Washington state with his mother, who struggled with addiction. He went through a phase of acting out and when he and a friend blew up a toilet with an M-80 firecracker in junior high school. His grandmother sent him to therapy after the toilet incident.

Everman was in the therapist's office one day and the therapist had several guitars lying around. Everman picked one up and strummed it for a minute. He liked it. So, the therapist told him to take one. He figured it might help him with his therapy, and he encouraged him to learn to play it. After strumming the guitar for a few minutes, Everman was hooked. He learned the root notes, then mastered the tricky chords.

Everman continued playing and in high school, he started joining bands. He said, "Music was the only thing I cared about in high school." He said, "Playing music and getting away was all I wanted to do."

After high school, he later met Nirvana drummer, Chad Channing, and he was hired to play with the band on their first tour.

Kurt Cobain wanted a second guitar player for the live show to have a heavier sound and take some of the responsibility off him so he could concentrate on vocals.

Everman said, "Initially, I thought I was going to be able to contribute to the band creatively and then it got to the point when I realized that wasn't going to happen."

After the tour, Everman left Nirvana. He wanted to do some self-reflection. Then he got a call from another famous Seattle band.

He said, "Kim Thayil, from the band Soundgarden called and asked him if he wanted to audition for the band? Soundgarden was my favorite Seattle band, hands-down,"

Everman landed the gig, but he was fired in 1990 after some conflict with frontman Chris Cornell.

Everman said, "At the end of the day, I wasn't getting along with Chris that well, and obviously, who's gonna go? It was me. It broke my heart. It was bad for me because I loved that band."

So, this gave Everman time to reflect on what he was going to do with his life. During this phase he met a former Navy Seal who put the idea of enlisting in the military in his head. As a child, he had always been intrigued by the military, just like so many other young people. Both of his grandfathers were World War II Veterans.

So, he joined the Army and went to basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He hoped to fade into the crowd and earn his place without drawing attention to himself.

One day in early April 1994, his drill sergeants stormed into the barracks, yelling and throwing trash cans to haze the recruits. One of the drill sergeants paused in front of Everman, locking eyes for a moment and he said, "The lead singer for Nirvana killed himself yesterday."

The other recruits learned of who Everman was and started calling him "Rock star."

Everman made it through basic training and even excelled as a soldier. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Ranger Regiment at Fort Lewis, Washington.

He later got out of the Army for a while, but then re-enlisted with the goal of joining Special Forces. He was going through the Special Forces qualification course when 9/11 happened. He remembered thinking, this is a game-changer. The room turned electric. They were going to war.

After he completed Special Forces training, he earned his green beret, and was assigned to A Team, 3rd Special Forces Group. He served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Everman said, "The war and combat were the most profound experience of my life. It takes an event as extreme as war to bring out both the worst and the best in people.

Everman got out of the Army in 2006 and applied to Columbia University. He got
into the Ivy League school after getting his former battalion commander, General Stanley McChrystal, to write him a letter of recommendation.

Today, several decades later, music isn't completely out of Everman's life. He plays in a rock band called Silence and Light, it is composed of all special operations Veterans. A portion of their proceeds go to non-profit Veteran and first responder organizations.

During an interview with Joe Rogan two years ago, Everman said he was glad his life went the way it did. He said, "I never look back and say, 'I wish I was this rich rock guy.' I wholeheartedly believe I came out the other end better on every level. I'm happier at 55 than I have ever been in my entire life and each year gets better."