Military mom honors sons' service with her miles

By the first week of April, Tammie Jaragoske already walked more than 250 miles in 2022. In Aberdeen, S.D., she walks a loop around a lake, trails and through a park. She said she walks for heart health and to clear her head. This season, she’ll be walking to honor the service of her three sons, all who served or serve in the military.

Randy Jaragoske, her eldest, served for four years in the Army, before 9/11, then two years of inactive service. Corey Jaragoske, her middle son, served for 21 years in the National Guard and was deployed twice, retiring in 2019. Bryan Jaragoske, the youngest, has been in the Army for 22 years and deployed six times, and is a sergeant major in the 173rd Airborne Division.

Their service is a big reason behind her walks. Tammie quit smoking 38 years ago, and at the same time, she started working out at a gym, which she did until April 2003 — when she missed a long awaited phone call with Bryan, who was deployed in Iraq.

“I really had a tough time going back, and so I just started doing it on my own.”

Now she walks (and, in summer, bikes).

This summer will be the third that she logs miles to raise money for The American Legion 100 Miles for Hope, a fitness/wellness event in which participants log 100 miles by Labor Day as they fundraise for The American Legion Veterans & Children Foundation. All proceeds from registrations and donations go directly to supporting disabled veterans and military families. (Learn more and register for the third annual challenge here.)

Lately, she’s been listening to a Bible podcast on her walks — she hasn’t found a walking buddy.

“I go by myself, mainly because nobody can keep up with me,” she said. “They tell me I walk too fast. But my dad was a fast walker. So we learned how to walk fast with him.”

She walks a 15- or 16-minute mile.

“If I have to slow down, I can. But it’s really hard because I’m out there for two reasons: to clear my head and to get exercise. I want to make sure that my heart rate is getting up where it needs to be.”

She said while she enjoys walking, the mission is what motivates her participation in 100 Miles for Hope.

Tammie’s family is full of servicemembers. Her father, Marvin Squires, served in the Korean War. Her father-in-law, Robert Jaragoske, served in World War II and Korea. Siblings, nieces and nephews have served, too, she said.

“It is not fun to be a parent of military, especially in this day and age. But I'm very proud of my boys. They've done a fabulous job of carrying on with life and getting through the hard times, even though they, you know, have seen probably the worst in life.”

When her eldest son, Randy, told her and her husband he wanted to join, she said she was surprised but ultimately supportive.

“That one was a little tough because he never had ever talked about it,” she said.

Randy enlisted in the Army and was stationed in Korea in the late 1990s. During his time there, a fuel leak caught fire and he was severely burned.

“It was tough to go through, or to receive a phone call about your son being injured,” she said.

While he does not have severe burns on his face, she said his hands remain sensitive to hot and cold.

She was also surprised, she said, when her middle son, Corey, decided to enlist. He went full-time National Guard and was deployed twice.

But Bryan, the youngest? She said she’d known when he was a kid.

“Ever since he was a little boy, he was always playing Army and making up wars and everything else. We just didn't ever expect it to happen that he would actually be in a war,” she said.

Bryan has been deployed six times.

“Then, of course, he couldn’t ‘just’ be normal Army. … What's more stress on his mother? It's like, ‘Really, you're gonna jump out of airplanes?’” she said.

It didn’t get easier as more joined — she’s watched as her grandchildren struggled with missing their dad through deployment, Tammie said, and at one point, Corey and Bryan were deployed at the same time.

“But thank God, they both came back with no injuries,” she said.

With Randy and Corey now out of the service and Bryan scheduled to return stateside, Tammie has seen the impact the Legion can have through the gestures it makes.

During Fourth of July celebrations in 2021, all three were presented with Quilts of Valor at the post in Gettysburg, S.D.

“As a parent, you’re so proud that,” she paused, “their service represents something.”