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Jason Follow waits for the Knock-out drill competition to begin at Eisenhower High School in Blue Island, Illinois. Follow spent four years in the MCJROTC at Portage High School before enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Chief Warrant Officer Candelario Resendez inspects the rank of Jason Follow during the squad inspection at Eisenhower High School in Blue Island, Illinois. Follow's rank was slightly off regulation and he was docked points on his inspection.
Jason Follow celebrates with his fellow MCJROTC cadets after winning the competition at Eisenhower High School in Blue Island, Illinois. Follow's rank was slightly off regulation and he was docked points on his inspection.
Jason Follow adjusts a fellow student's uniform before the beginning of the Awards Night May 15, 2008 at Portage High School. Awards night is a yearly event where top performing cadets and seniors are recognized for their hard work and achievement.
Jason Follow laughs with fellow cadet Jill Herrman before the beginning of the Awards Night May 15, 2008 at Portage High School. Awards night is a yearly event where top performing cadets and seniors are recognized for their hard work and achievement.
Jason Follow stands at attention during the beginning of the Awards Night May 15, 2008 at Portage High School. Awards night is a yearly event where top performing cadets and seniors are recognized for their hard work and achievement.
As Jason Follow's step-mom Kaleen beams with pride while holding onto his senior award after Awards Night at Portage High School May 15, 2008, Jason turns away as he begins to realize that this is the last time he'll wear this uniform in as a MCJROTC cadet at Portage High School.
Only minutes before the start of his Graduation from Portage High School, Jason Follow calls his parents to make sure they all arrived at the high school on June 8, 2008 in Portage.
Looking down the iron sights of his gun, Jason Follow tries correct his aim to shoot out the star at the Porter County Fair July 27, 2008 in Valparaiso.
Jason Follow reacts to his pedicure as his step-mother Kaleen and step-sister Rachel Underwood laugh at him at Nail & Spa on Route 30 in Merrillville. Kaleen convinced Jason to get the pedicure a few weeks before leaving for Recruit training. "You are going to have boots on for the next eight years,' said Kaleen Follow, " Might as well start good because your feet are only going to get worse."
Jason Follow plays guitar as his friend, Zac Lawton and Vince Chandler play the video game "RockBand" in Jason's bedroom July 26, 2008, after his open house party at his Portage home.
Jason Follow looks up after sending a text message to one of his friends as his family pulls back into the garage area after a round of go-kart racing at the Post Road Recreation Center in Lawerence, a suburb of Indianapolis August 11, 2008. Follow's family came down to Indianapolis the last night before he left for Recruit Training.
With only an hour before Jason Follow had to say goodbye to his family, the Follow family has a group hug after finishing up a round of go-kart racing at the Post Road Recreation Center in Lawerence, a suburb of Indianapolis August 11, 2008. This was the beginning of the good-byes to Jason before he was sequestered to his hotel room for the night.
After a summer of anticipation and anxiety, Jason Follow swears-in to the United State Marine Corps at the Military Entrance Processing Station in Indianapolis August 12, 2008. By the next morning, Jason was at the San Diego Recruit Depot, beginning his training to become a Marine.Jason Follow had very few things on him as he stood with his family in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel in Indianapolis.
His identification, a small black address book and some essential paperwork barely filled a single pocket of his pleated khakis.
Jason hugged his father, stepmother, stepsister and brother. But he gave his father one more hug, a longer one, before he waved goodbye and finally retreated to his room on the hotel’s second floor. In just a few hours, Jason would be boarding a bus to the Military Entrance Processing Station, along with other new recruits who meandered among the hallways of the hotel.
In just a few hours, he would begin the 12-week boot-camp training to become a Marine.
It’s a process that began more than four years ago when Follow joined the Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps at Portage High School.
It’s a process that will push Follow physically and psychologically. It’s a process that could eventually make him a leader.
Follow graduated from Portage High with honors, but instead of choosing a college to serve him an education, he chose to serve Uncle Sam.
“I see it as you are not helping one person when you serve, you are helping everyone … you’re helping the entire country,” he said.
By all accounts, Follow was a typical kid during high school.
He played soccer and spent time in the JROTC program serving as the drill team leader. He worked at the local Burger King after school and on weekends. He went to the homecoming dances and the prom, dining at a nearby Denny’s restaurant like many of the other teens that night.
He had a comfortable life attending school, working for spending money and hanging out with friends at the Quaker State and Lube eatery or at home while playing the “Rock Band” video game.
Follow was one of about 260 in the JROTC program at Portage High School.
“What we try to do is to reinforce traditional values, do the right thing, choose to do good, help the community, have respect for authority, learn to be altruistic,” said Maj. John Johnston, a retired Marine and instructor of the program. “Think about something outside of yourself and in here it’s not sugar-coated at all.”
Follow spent four years in the program, becoming the commander of the award-winning rifle team. He was one of the first in his senior class to enlist which surprised Johnston.
“I didn’t think Jason had the intense desire to do something like that. I figured he was going to go to college,” he said.
Johnston was not the only one surprised by his student’s decision to enlist. Follow also surprised his family by signing recruitment paperwork before calling to tell them the news.
“Hey, I won’t be home for dinner,” he told his father, Dana, that day. “I’m really going to be at the MEPS.”
Though admittedly upset at first about Jason’s surprise enlistment, Dana said his son was ready to “spread his wings.”
After contemplating Follow’s decision, he figured it shouldn’t have been much of a shock.
Dana Follow joined the U.S. Navy a few weeks before his 18th birthday, and military service is common in their family.
The invasion of reality
After Jason’s senior night at PHS and its USMC award event, the reality of his life-changing decision began to dawn on him.
As his father and stepmother, Kaleen, proudly admired his award that night, Jason Follow had a surprise realization of his own: This would be the last time he would wear his familiar ROTC uniform, with a traditional coal-black coat, bright gold buttons and a puffed-out chest full of ribbons and medals.
Now, he would have to wait until November to wear the dress blue uniform of the Marine Corps.
Follow's summer sailed by as he kept himself busy working at Burger King and hanging out with friends. By the end of the summer, when his friends were getting ready to return to school, Follow found it “weird and unbelievable” that he wouldn’t be going back, too.
As the time for him to leave home approached, he started feeling nervous; not about boot camp, but about leaving his family behind.
He spent a lot of time with his family, especially his brother, Justin, 29.
“It’s going from being able to see them every day to getting a letter once or twice a week,” he said, looking to his departure date.
That date came on Aug. 12, when 100 or so recruits milled about the rear exit of the Hilton Hotel in Indianapolis.
With the sun rising on a new day — and a new life for each of them — they boarded buses for the MEPS. Follow went through the intake process, including being sworn-in. He would be the team leader for a group of recruits flying to San Diego and he was happy to have the title and responsibility.
So far, Follow has done well in his boot camp training at another corner of the country, he said recently. His favorite part is the marching and drill aspects, surely sparking memories of his days at PHS with fellow cadets and Johnston.
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