Nirvana's lost member SF?

[bassbuckeye]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/magazine/evermans-war.html?ref=arts&pagewanted=all&_r=2&

Found this interesting and didnt find anything using the search engine on this gentleman...I assume since its in RS opsec is out the door so....



And that was only half of it. Jason Everman has the unique distinction of being the guy who was kicked out of Nirvana and Soundgarden, two rock bands that would sell roughly 100 million records combined. At 26, he wasn’t just Pete Best, the guy the Beatles left behind. He was Pete Best twice.

Then again, he wasn’t remotely. What Everman did afterward put him far outside the category of rock’n’roll footnote. He became an elite member of the U.S. Army Special Forces, one of those bearded guys riding around on horseback in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban.

[Richard]

Perhaps...

Found a couple of mentions - enlisted 1994 - 2nd Ranger Bn and then SF with an Honorable Discharge in 2006.

Richard

[bassbuckeye]

On one hand it looks like he lived out his dream career but...wow thats a lot of money between those two bands.....

and the article is a reminder that grunge was a long time ago :mad:

[ghp95134]

Found this:
....In September 1994, influenced by Renaissance icon Benvenuto Cellini (who stated that a well-rounded man is an artist, warrior and philosopher), he left Mind Funk to join the Army 2nd Ranger Battalion and the Special Forces, serving tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. After receiving an honorable discharge in 2006, Everman went on to enroll in philosophy courses at Columbia University.

source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Everman)

Jason Everman:
http://www.musicliferadio.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/JE.jpg
source (http://www.musicliferadio.com/2010/09/022-an-interesting-life/)


Interview (http://www.musicliferadio.com/2010/09/022-an-interesting-life/)


[timestamps approximate]
0:46:19 -- his grandfather was a tank driver on D-Day, and company commander on VE day; other grandfather in USCG (interviewer was USCG and now civil service in USCG)
0:48:00 - 2nd Ranger Battalion for 3+ years; break in service -- went to Tibet
0:59:00 - In again; made selection for Q-Course
1:00:00 - SFQC; 9/11 happened just before graduation. Doesn't say which Group/ODA; talks about deployments; declines to talk about his actual combat experience; wants to pursue MA in military history
1:17:50 - Q: Long term vision? A: ...go back in Army for a few years, would like to go back to be a Ranger Instructor at Ranger School; instruct; give back to community; ...etc .....

He's very well spoken!

[Team Sergeant]

Nirvana, didn't one of the band members suck start a 12 ga.?:rolleyes:

[mark46th]

Yup- Kurt Cobain painted his ceiling with his brains...

[LTUnickp]

This would be a pretty interesting autobiography if he ever decides to write it.

[hotshot]

Back in 2007, my ODA was part of a joint operation and I worked with Jason for 3 weeks. I had no idea who he was before....

We had several conversations on various topics and I remember that he was studying and had recently left the service. If my memory is correct he was NG and had be contracting but left the Army when it became a conflict of interest.

I just checked my pics and sure enough, it's him.

Very humble and competent guy, he helped me clear an LZ the first day were were up on the ridge and after a couple hours we got into a fire fight, it was just me, him and my TS.. Good times

CH

[NurseTim]

I think he got the better deal by being replaced by both bands to become a QP. I see the and of here in this.

He wasn't 18D by any chance?

[hotshot]

He was either an 18B or 18E.

[Richard]

The Rock ’n’ Roll Casualty Who Became a War Hero
NYT, 2 July 2013

<snip>He served out his first enlistment as a Ranger. “But I felt like I wasn’t finished with something.” He still wanted to make Special Forces, which to Everman was the ultimate achievement. It’s a different world. They operate as a group of equals. They call one another by their first names. They engage in a wider spectrum of operations than less-elite units.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Everman was starting the last phase of Special Forces training. It was the first day of language school, and he was watching CNN in the common room with some buddies. “I saw the video of the plane impacting the tower and kind of innately knew we were going to war,” he said. “I don’t believe in fate or destiny, but I did feel a strange sense of kismet, which was probably more of just the right place at the right time. I guess I knew it was on, and I hoped that I would be prepared when it was time to go.”<snip>


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/magazine/evermans-war.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[bassbuckeye]

I would like to see his play list on his iPod


It seems this further supports the fact that a career in SOF is for folks that will one thing and can drop all other distractions. Whether it was his toughest day in 2/75 or the difficulty of his training and operations in SF he did not let "what could have been" creep into his mind....at least not to the point where you go "f this I could be on tour making millions playing music" an obvious passion of his.

I'll be honest I envy that kind of focus whether its a Dominican monk or an operator.....

[miclo18d]

I knew a few 2nd Rgr guys that knew him. My sister (very liberal) sent me that article yesterday. Good catch.

To cross thread this I'll point out the difference of this guys quiet career going unnoticed as a "star" musician compared to this football running back thread and my reference to Pat Tillman who, whether they wanted it or not, got tons of publicity.
http://professionalsoldiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42580

This guy...a true QP in my book.

[aegisnavy]

Let's see...fast, fit, badass, QP life of true service vs. drugged up, tripped out, dead end life of a rock star. I think he made the right choice.

[The_Mentalist]

Impressive and motivated individual. He strove to be the best at whatever he did and seems to have succeeded. This is a good find. I am glad that we (Americans) still have people like him and the rest of you among us.

[DJ Urbanovsky]

I think he made the right choice for him.

Making music that brings joy to tons of people is a dead end life? Interesting...


Let's see...fast, fit, badass, QP life of true service vs. drugged up, tripped out, dead end life of a rock star. I think he made the right choice.

[DJ Urbanovsky]

Wearing a Motorhead shirt into combat = excellent.


Per TS's instructions, here's an appropriately sized pic:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/03/article-2354233-1AA11ADA000005DC-364_634x704.jpg

[bassbuckeye]

Agree with DJ....Motor Head tactical shirt is awesome



And rock and roll musicians are as American as apple pie and not all of them suck on a 12 gauge or do heroin

[greyshade]

Not every, or even most, rock stars fit your mold. IE Krist Novoselic the bass player for Nirvana. Not dead, not burned out, not living in a gutter.

Dealing in absolutes and stereotypes is rarely an accurate assessment.


Let's see...fast, fit, badass, QP life of true service vs. drugged up, tripped out, dead end life of a rock star. I think he made the right choice.

As a Nirvana fan this was pretty awesome to read, moreso to confirm it was true.

[aegisnavy]

Upon second thought I may have been a little harsh in my previous post. As a Nirvana fan, also the same age as Mr. Everman, and lastly with a few regrets for opportunities missed, I should have said, "Don't worry about the rock star thing not working out, friend, IMHO, you did something greater."

My broad stroke was a little too broad, mea maxima culpa.

FWIW, I was wayyyy addicted to the Seattle music scene, and still am.

[Hognose (RIP)]

His goal seems not, necessarily, to be the best at everything, or to gain attention for accomplishments, or appear to be a badass, but to develop himself into a well rounded man by the methods he sees fit to use.


Some years ago, my former liberal, never-served brother brought me an interview with Everman, in which he disclosed he'd read some aphorism by an old Roman that had stuck with and inspired him. The wise ancient had said that to be a complete man, a man should be an artist, a warrior, and a philosopher. He didn't refer back to that in his Times interview, but the degree he recently finished was a BA in Philosophy at Columbia, one of the more underrated Ivies (and the only one in as bad a 'hood as Yale!) It was brilliant of Columbia to accept him because I think he will bring credit back on the institution (as he will do to the SF and Ranger Regiments).

At the time, I shook the trees to see what fell out about his reputation. He'd ETSed and guys were sorry to see him go. Even JSOC guys remembered him. They were floored to find out he'd been a famous grunge rocker.

The one thing everybody agreed on was that he was a quiet, introspective guy who spoke in noticeably complete and grammatical sentences. Most of us don't, you know, even if we write that way on the boards. He had a wide range of interests, but that's not unusual in an ODA guy. In a team room the discussion can be anything from guns and poon to thermodynamics and literature. Back to poon.