9/11 changed his plans. NC man went from high school student to member of the Marines
Jason Swaim Jr., he's Jake to friends and family, had a rough draft for how his life would play out long before a lot of his classmates at Carver High School.
Military service, college and a career in law enforcement. Family, a wife and kids, to complete the picture.
Just like his father, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps before spending his working life in the Winston-Salem Police Department and the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office.
"I've told Jason, 'It's a good thing you weren't a bank robber because if you were, that's what Jake would have done, too,'" said Grace Swaim, his mom. "His dad was always his hero."
The only issue with Swaim's plan turned out to be the order in which it unfolded.
Jason wanted his son to go to college first, then into the service as an officer. Jake was leaning that way, too, until the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists flew hijacked jets into the World Trade Center.
"We were sitting in class watching on one of those old TVs they rolled in on a cart and saw the second plane hit," Jake said. "I pretty much knew immediately that I was going in."
Two things stopped him, though.
He was 17, too young to enlist legally, and his parents were united in their refusal to sign his enlistment waiver.
His dad was firm. He wanted Jake to get his college degree first, and his mother reacted like a mom. "I wasn't going to sign anything to let my son join the Marines when he was 17," Grace Swaim said.
There was another factor in their minds, too.
As every other American who saw the towers fall, the Swaims knew that the country would be going to war.
It took a few weeks, but Jake's conviction eventually won out. Jake, now an assistant chief in the Winston-Salem Police Department, was working at a Chick-fil-A when he found out they'd relented.
Winston-Salem Police Capt. Jake Swaim carries a flag as he participates in the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics on Friday, May 16, 2025, in Winston-Salem.
"It was back before everybody had cellphones," Swaim Jr. said. "Somebody said, 'You have a phone call up front.' I answered it, and they told me 'The recruiter just left. We signed your paperwork.'"
He had to finish high school first, but he had enlisted. And when other kids might have been daydreaming about a senior trip to Myrtle Beach, Jake was thinking about a different location in South Carolina: Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island.
Oddly enough, the argument that carried the day for Grace Swaim wasn't totally about patriotism, service or national defense.
"He said, 'Mom, I'm going, and I don't want to wait until I'm 18, because if I do, I'll be at boot camp when it's freezing. I'd rather go when it's hot,'" she said.
Jason, who served during the Cold War, knew exactly what the decision could mean.
"His mind was made up," Jason said. "We knew he was going to Iraq. So when he was at Camp Geiger (for advanced training before deployment), we'd go get him every weekend when he was off, then bring him back every Sunday.
"It wore me out, but we just didn't know how much time we'd have with him. He sure had to grow up fast."
Scott Sexton has been a bemused observer of daily life — and occasional thorn in the side of elected officials — in Winston-Salem since 2005. ssexton@wsjournal.com
336-727-7481 @scottsextonwsj
