Jason Hess, Corpsmen Guard 97-99

I was so saddened to hear of your death. With your passing, I feel like a part of my youth has been taken away. I met you when I was 19. For three years you were my instructor at Crossmen until my age out. I remember you always being there, every day, throughout each summer that I marched. You were a smile, a comfort, and a

motivator every day. We all loved having you as our instructor. You always worked us hard, made us better, and made it enjoyable.

• I remember in 1997 when we took a pause from daily rehearsal and played volleyball in Wisconsin. I was the referee and kept saying “re-do” with some corresponding hand gestures and you seemed to love that and even mentioned it years later. • I remember you always asking us if there was “body” that we needed to do with the work. Always pushing us, even when we were hot and tired. • I remember when you were the caption head of Crossmen in 2000 and you allowed me to speak to the entire guard after one of their shows to share my thoughts and inspirations. • I remember watching you on video and the memories of the wonderful DCI and WGI shows you got to be a part of.

The day of your passing, I actually had a weird thing happen to me. I was going through my phone and my Facebook messenger app had an indicator that I had an unread message. When I looked, it was a message from you – from March 2015. For some reason – the message was marked as unread. It took my breath away; I had forgotten about it. Up until this point, I had felt guilty because I couldn’t remember the last we had spoken. It brought me great joy to re-read the message that you sent to me. You reached out to me and asked how I was doing. I got to share with you about my family. I will always cherish it. Thank you Michelle for everything.