FORT PIERCE — Jimmy Jackson’s rap sheet once read ‘drug trafficking.’ Now it reads ‘500k in free home repairs for veterans.’
This transformation didn’t happen overnight — it was forged in the fires of combat trauma, personal downfall, and a relentless drive to reclaim purpose.
As a former Marine who served in Iraq from 2003 to 2004 with the 2nd Infantry Division’s 3rd Regiment in a Stryker Brigade, Jackson endured the relentless grind of guerrilla warfare. His unit’s 19-ton armored personnel carriers, outfitted with remote weapons systems, were sitting ducks for rocket-propelled grenades, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and ambushes. “Our vehicles got hit multiple times with IEDs,” he recalls. “One of my squad leaders lost his hands.” One such blast struck Jackson’s vehicle, inflicting a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that would shadow his life long after the battlefield faded…