Photo By Timothy Lawn | 171208-A-WQ129-1001 – Bryan Keith Jacobs, U.S. Navy Veteran and former Corpsman, and...... read more read more
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BRADENTON, Florida - “Everything that this is today is his legacy,” Bryan Keith Jacobs says.
Jacobs dedicates his resiliency with managing post traumatic stress disorder, physical injuries and his founding of the Vet2Chef veterans job initiative to his late younger brother Kevin’s combat stress-related suicide.
“I want to make sure no other family feels or goes through this,” Jacobs says.
Dodging the evening rush hour traffic, Jacobs sips his coffee at the café table and sorts through photographs and artifacts on the table. Memories of his deceased younger brother Kevin and him at war and at home, both pleasant and painful, though he admits they are why he is here today.
Today, Jacobs organizes and manages the Vets2Success foundation, a dedicated culinary arts and brewing skills job training program for unemployed veterans. The nonprofit is a University of South Florida Manatee-Sarasota sponsored initiative dedicated to training military veterans to be chefs, bakers, agriculturalists and gourmet coffee artisans.
Jacobs didn’t get to this successful stage in life easily. His path began with him and his younger brother Kevin serving as combatants on the violent battlefields of Iraq.
Jacobs is a former Navy battlefield paramedic better known as a corpsman; his deceased brother Kevin was a former enlisted Marine infantryman.
Both brothers experienced dual combat tours in Iraq, both crossing the berm together with the 2nd Marine Division as participants in the initial Iraq invasion in 2003. Returning safely from their first tour, the second tour in 2005 is where things begin to fall apart.
That falling apart came about from the stress, rigors and hazards of their military duties.
“To earn the title of ‘Doc’ is extraordinary,” Jacobs says, chuckling as he recalls his journey to become a Navy corpsman. “I wanted the Marines to be confidant of who I was.”
To achieve his teammates’ trust, Jacobs admits to putting himself in places and circumstances he probably should have avoided, but that was his job.
“You didn’t do it for the medals, you did it to survive,” he says.
Jacobs describes feelings of guilt that come with being a combat corpsman. If you lose a Marine you lose family, you lose a mom, a dad, brother or sister, he says. He describes the guilt as overwhelming, making you feel partly responsible for their death.
“In combat the enemy is waiting for you to make a mistake,” Jacobs says.
What with all the different munitions and improvised explosive devices, Jacobs said it seemed there was no end to the enemy’s creativity.
Coming home, Jacobs’ struggle begins.
“My triggers; a ball rolling out into the street, or a kid coming towards you …,” Jacobs said.
Combat and the effects of survivor guilt were no different for his brother, Kevin; in fact it proved to be worse.
On Kevin’s second combat tour he served with the 1st Marine Division. He was assigned to an area where brutal combat could be a daily event. One of Kevin’s teammates, Cpl. Jason Dunham, saved several of his fellow Marines by jumping on a live hand grenade. Dunham later succumbed to his wounds and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for bravery.
Kevin returned from his tour and was honorably discharged from the Marines, but the war never left him.
Kevin and Bryan both struggled with anxiety, emotional pain and grief, and began to drift apart. Kevin’s experiences eventually got the best of him, and on Memorial Day, May 28, 2014, Bryan’s beloved brother Kevin committed suicide.
The Jacobs family was devastated. His mother already was afflicted with a serious illness and succumbed to her illness within a year.
“Mom changed. She became a different person and seemed to lose the will to live,” Jacobs says.
“I thought I was normal,” says Jacobs. Describing his ordeal as one of lost identity and trust, today he realizes he shut down after he was discharged, even shunning family and childhood friends.
Jacobs’ struggle was overwhelming, he hopped from job to job, counting more than 23, and experiences a brief stint living homeless out of a car under a bridge in Hampton Roads, Va.
“I feel I failed as a brother for many years,” Jacobs says.
Today, Jacobs recognizes those triggers and experiences are the symptoms of PTSD.
As he met and interacted with other veterans, they seemed to be the only ones who identify with his anger, confusion and pain. Jacobs realized he was not the only one going through this.
Jacobs’ struggle and the loss of his brother drive him, and he is determined to conquer his pain and to honor Kevin’s legacy. To bring himself from the past to today, he needed a break.
That break comes in several opportunities serving as a cook, and his childhood memories come flooding back.
Fond memories of growing up on a farm and time spent with his grandfather, a chef during World War II. Jacobs recalled his childhood being in the kitchen and wrapped around food. When he was as young as 8 years old he recalls learning how to cook and create a menu.
It is in the kitchen he discovers being a chef is as natural as being in the military.
“Being a chef requires the same disciplines: be alert, be on time and keep order,” Jacobs says. “These capabilities are natural instincts for veterans.”
“Food had chosen me,” Jacobs adds.
Jacobs discovered his calling and attended USF, graduating in 2015, with his bachelor of science degree. From there he traveled to France and graduated with classes in culinary innovation, leadership and management.
With these qualifications and some private chef experience behind him, he returned and created Vets2success.
“Giving Veterans Passion and Purpose through Food and Brew,” is the foundation’s mission statement, Jacobs says.
“Vets2success is also ground zero for future culinary initiatives,” Jacobs says. His biggest challenge now is finding investors and funding to maintain the sustainability of the foundation.
Jacobs credits his success with reintegrating in life and founding Vets2Success as a direct legacy and memorial to his younger brother, Kevin. He feels it is his duty, and has made it his mission to help veterans find a place for support, to discover and find themselves, and to succeed as entrepreneurs and in life.
Those interested in learning more or keeping up on Vets2Success can email Bryan Jacobs directly at: Bryan@vets2success.org
Check out; Vets2Success.org
Vet2Success Facebook Home Page:
https://www.facebook.com/Vets2success.org
Vets2Success Program to Educate and Empower Veterans for Reintegration Into Communities Through Food and Drink.
http://www.rswliving.com/2017/10/11/157259/vets2success-program-to-educate-and-empower-veterans-for-reintegration-into-communities-through-food-and-drink
Florida Veteran Gives Fellow Servicemembers Job Training - Page 20-21 - Stars and Stripes, Transition Guide, https://t.co/eFGG1EaPyu
| Date Taken: | 12.08.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 12.08.2017 08:53 |
| Story ID: | 257967 |
| Location: | BRADENTON - SARASOTA, FLORIDA, US |
| Hometown: | BRADENTON, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 348 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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