CPT Jason Pearson

Captain Jason Pearson sat down with me for Heroes Live.

I knew him from selling body armor. One of my funnest accounts. Winter Garden Police. Captain.

Born 1971. Owensboro, Kentucky. Poor. Outdoor plumbing. Thirteen people in a small house. Fireplace for heat. Windows for AC. Farm. Chickens. Cows. Tobacco. His dad sold uniforms on the road.

ADHD when they still called it hyperactivity. Name on the board. Colonial High School. East Orlando. Delayed a summer. GI Joe. Stick wars. BB gun wars. One pump unless the jerk in the trees pumped five.

Desert Storm. Five thousand dollar signing bonus. Bills to pay. He always wanted a badge. Fort Leonard Wood. Summer into fall. He left before the snow. Weekend warrior. Never left stateside. Then he met his wife.

Six years in Florida corrections. Paid for the academy himself. Winter Garden. Sergeant in 2009. Then captain. He built a 32-hour foot pursuit class. Agencies copied it. Composite artist. Two felony hits off his drawings. Robbery. Vehicle burglary. One more and he would have been an expert. Tremors in his hands. He stopped.

Before basic he refinished pianos. Soundboard. Harp. He never tuned them. Wife. Great niece and nephew. Twins. They keep a second house worth of gear so those kids can walk in. That is why we hit record. Get the story on tape before we are too old or too sick to tell it.