Introducing: Jason Kyriakopoulos

 Part Two in the Introducing Series

Jason is John Smith's best friend from the Marine Corps, and the closest thing John ever had to a brother. Where John prefers to observe a situation and make an informed decision before proceeding, Jason throws caution to the wind and dives in, sometimes recklessly. From his excessive tattoos, long hair, and ever-present beard stubble, he isn't the average person's idea of a moral confidant. But John never hesitates to ask Jason's opinion of anything. 

Jason grew up in Palisade, Colorado, a small town just east of Grand Junction. His father left his mother to raise him alone when he was four. His mother, Winona High Bear, was a journalist at the Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction. Starting when Jason was ten years old, she would go out of town on assignment, leaving him with her brother, Jason's Uncle Takoda. Uncle Takoda was a carpenter, framing and roofing houses all over Western Colorado. As Jason got older, he worked with his uncle, learning the construction trade.

Jason's father, Gregorio Kyriakopoulos, was the son of Greek immigrants who came to America after World War II. He was a hard worker from birth, attending Tulane University on a football scholarship. While earning his Civil Engineering degree, he was picked by the Denver Broncos in the 1972 NFL Draft. While he never actually played in a game, he was with the team for two seasons. After his football career was over, he stayed in Colorado, working as a Public Utilities foreman.

Jason was born in 1978, in Grand Junction. When his father left, his mother moved to Palisade, where the cost of living wasn't quite as high. Due to his mixed ethnic background, Jason was never fully accepted by either side, but found friendship with other mixed children. Despite a relatively high IQ, Jason struggled in school, to the point that he had to make up credits in summer school following his senior year in order to graduate.

Rather than turn to drugs or crime, Jason found an outlet for his frustration in rodeo bareback bronco riding. He followed a regional rodeo circuit for two years after high school, usually winning just enough in one show to travel to and enter the next one. Gradually, he began to build a fan base. After a strong showing in Cheyenne, he was approached by a major sponsor, but the deal fell through, following a disappointing outcome in Topeka.

He did odd jobs in Topeka, sleeping in his car and trying to put back enough money to get back on the rodeo circuit. One day, as he ate at a roadside diner, he struck up a conversation with the local Marine recruiter. The recruiter was fascinated by Jason's tales of rodeo life, and only pitched the idea of a military career when Jason specifically asked him about it. He stopped by the office after work that day to take the practice ASVAB, impressing the recruiters with his technical knowledge. While his clerical abilities would preclude him from most administrative MOS categories, he was eligible to do just about anything else he chose.

Looking around at Topeka and watching his likelihood of getting back into bronco riding fade, Jason began leaning more toward the idea of joining the Marines. As he ate lunch at the same diner the next day, he overheard his waitress talking to her landlord on the phone. She was in danger of losing her apartment. Without thinking twice, Jason gave her the money he had been saving to get back to the rodeo circuit, and went to see the Marine recruiter.

After signing up and completing the enlistment physical examination, he was put on a flight to San Diego, where he attended boot camp. Military life came naturally to Jason, where every recruit was treated the same, regardless of race or religion. He excelled at the physical requirements, and needed only minimal help with marksmanship and uniform regulations. Having grown up as a social outcast, the Marine Corps camaraderie was a genuine treat for Jason, and he adopted it wholeheartedly. He firmly believed that every Marine was his brother, and began addressing them as such, regardless of whether they were male or female.

Jason first met John Smith in Pensacola, Florida, in November of 1999. John was on his final week of the training course there, bound for Cherry Point, NC after that. By the time Jason's class graduated from the course at Pensacola, John was halfway done with the follow-on course at Cherry Point. After John graduated and was sent to Iwakuni, Japan, Jason graduated and was assigned to the Logistics Squadron at Cherry Point. When John was assigned to the same unit upon completion of his overseas tour, the two of them actually worked together for the first time. They would remain just casual acquaintances until the following year, when they both deployed to Yuma, Arizona in support of a Harrier squadron's weapons training mission. From there, they became friends, each challenging the other to be a better Marine so they would be chosen for more training missions together. 

Just after his promotion to Staff Sergeant, Jason was medically retired from the Marines, following a training accident that left him with nerve damage resulting in sunlight hypersensitivity in his eyes. Not one to let a bad situation stop him, Jason bought a stake in a local food trailer business, using the money to launch his own chain of hot dog stands. When we meet Jason in Favor For a Favor, he is doing well for himself, following his second divorce. 

Jason's story doesn't end with the conclusion of Favor For a Favor. He will be a part of John Smith's story for ages to come.