Pascack Valley High School “Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire”
1000
January 2018
pvsmokesignal.com
WINS
Jasper’s journey: from soldier to teacher Madison Gallo Editor in Chief
In the middle of a torrential rainstorm, in the midst of an artillery fight in Mekong Delta, Vietnam, 23 year old Jeff Jasper was thigh deep in standing water leading a company of men. All around him, tracer rounds and artillery shells were going off. During a lull in the fight, hidden under a poncho, he lit up a Marlboro cigarette. It was in this moment that he says he had an epiphany. “When I get out of here I want to do something that will make a difference. I want to teach and and I want to coach,” recalled Jasper, who just won his 1,000th win with the Pascack Valley girls basketball team. Serving in the military as an Infantry Airborne Lieutenant from 1969 to 1970 laid the foundation for Jasper’s teaching and coaching career at Pascack Valley. Jasper was against the war and had considered fleeing to Canada to dodge the draft. However, his father Walt, a World War II veteran, helped in convincing him otherwise. Continuted on page 6 Photo by Curstine Guevarra
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