Ol’ Sabertooth at Dog Tag Buddies

Ol’ Sabertooth, 1980 by Harry Jackson

Bronze sculpture

The Harry Jackson Trust has donated a Harry Jackson Ol’ Sabertooth sculpture to the Dog Tag Buddies 5th Annual Celebrity Chef Gala. Dog Tag Buddies is an incredible organization that helps “veterans living with the invisible wounds of war.” There are still tickets available so buy a ticket and come bid on this and other fantastic items to be auctioned off to raise funds for Dog Tag Buddies.

Harry was injured several times in the course of his service with the Marines in the Pacific in WWII. At Tarawa he received a closed head injury from a mortar shell. He was blinded for 12 hours and taken to the hospital ship. He rejoined the operation to help clean up once he was cleared for duty.

Unknown to him, this head injury lead to epilepsy, explosive rage disorder and a host of other life long, mental health challenges. There was no support for these kind of injuries at the time and certainly no program of any kind similar to Dog Tag Buddies. At that time it was difficult to get the medical establishment to recognize there were actual medical effects of the trauma, let alone support for his adjustment living back in civilian life.

Tall Man in Black, 1948, by Harry Jackson

In the painting Tall Man in Black, 1948, the man in black is Harry himself, isolated in a world that is distorted and difficult for him to understand. He told me this is a self portrait speaking about his difficulty in readjusting to civilian life. One of the biggest challenges he faced is that he was just beginning to understand that it wasn’t his own failings causing many of his problems, but his undiagnosed epilepsy, explosive rage and many other issues stemming from the traumatic brain injury.

While he fought for recognition of his injuries and finally was awarded disability by the Veterans Administration, real support for his issues was not available. He and his family lived with these lingering effects of his combat until he passed away at the Sheridan VA Hospital in 2011.