Imagine joining the army, being stationed in Iraq and losing your best friend – all in the span of three years. For Jason Hagan, all of this is a reality. Hagan is a Sacramento State student who was also in an Emmy award winning documentary about his best friend called, “Stephen McGowan: The Beanie Baby Soldier.”

Hagan said that it is not easy coming back from the war because of all of the memories, and sometimes has trouble sleeping. However, he said he is appreciative of the experience because it has made him a better husband, friend and employee.

“When you are tested with life and death every day, you find out a lot about yourself, and deep down it goes to your soul,” he said.

The documentary tells the story of Stephen McGowan. McGowan was called the “Beanie Baby Soldier” because one Christmas he asked his mother to send some Beanie Babies that he and other soldiers could hand out to Iraqi children in the hope of changing their view of Americans.

Bobbie McGowan, Stephen’s mother, said her son – a tall, strapping soldier – would get down on one knee, look the child in the eye, and give him or her a toy. She said that it was this gesture that would break down barriers between soldiers and the children.

Hagan and Stephen McGowan met when Hagan was assigned to his platoon in South Korea. Hagan was a scout and trained sniper, and McGowan was a medic. They were then deployed to Iraq together, something McGowan had volunteered to do.

Bobbie McGowan said that it took her son three days to summon the courage to tell her that he would be going to Iraq. She said the reason he volunteered was because he knew other medics had wives and children.

“Stephen went to spare the lives of those soldiers with children, so he thought he should go first,” Bobbie McGowan said.

On March 4, 2005 Hagan and McGowan were on a mission, patrolling in separate Humvees – a mission that McGowan did not return from.

“The enemy doesn’t wear a uniform; you don’t know that they are the enemy until they shoot at you,” Hagan said.

McGowan and three other soldiers’ lives were claimed when their Humvee hit an improvised explosive device that was buried in the ground.

“You can be anywhere and detonate it,” Hagan said. “In this case, they detonated the bomb when the fourth truck drove over it, which was Stephen’s.”

Dan Watson, a friend of Hagan’s and fellow platoon mate in Iraq, said that in January or February of 2005, Hagan had been moved from McGowan’s vehicle to one with him.

“He knows that could (have) very well been him instead,” Watson said.

Bobbie McGowan said that Hagan saw Stephen’s vehicle blow up in his rear view mirror; black smoke went up 60 feet in the air, and the hood went 50 feet in the air. Bobbie McGowan said these were the words the Army used to describe the event for her, which she described as catastrophic.

Bobbie McGowan said that even though Watson and Hagan were in great danger, they risked their lives to make sure her son’s remains came home.

“Jason and Dan Watson, they jumped into the cesspool where the bodies had been blown and retrieved all of the body parts to make sure that they came home,” she said.

“Stephen McGowan: The Beanie Baby Soldier” won four Emmy Awards, one of which was given to McGowan, and another was given to Hagan. McGowan had called Hagan to let him know that the film had won an Emmy.

“When it came and I opened the box, I was shocked, and every time that she said Emmy it meant Emmy,” Hagan said. “It came in a very nice box, and I just keep it in that. I know I have it, and I don’t need to keep it on the mantle.”

Hagan said the Emmy symbolizes something very important to him, which was his friendship with Stephen. Hagan’s bond with McGowan is still strong today, holding true to a promise that he and Stephen had made in the battlefield.

The two promised each other that if one of them didn’t make it out of Iraq alive, the surviving soldier would take care of the other’s mom. Hagan said that he and Bobbie McGowan kept a very close relationship after Stephen’s death.

When Hagan finally came home from Iraq, he was able to invite family members to visit when he arrived in Colorado, his late best friend’s mother now being part of his family. When she arrived in Colorado, Bobbie McGowan said Hagan met her wearing a suit. He had written to his mother prior to coming home, and asked her to send him a suit so he could meet McGowan in it. She said that he stood by her side the entire evening, introducing her to fellow soldiers as Mac’s mom (Mac was Stephen’s nick name).

“I would not have survived if it were not for Jason Hagan, because he loved on me, and told me how much Stephen meant to everyone,” she said. “We still love each other so much, and it started with the love and trust that a band of brothers thing that goes on.”

Hagan was also there for his fellow soldiers. Watson described him as someone who is extremely dedicated, and willing to cheer others up.

“When I would be down in the blues, he was there for me. Most of the time he would give me a swift kick in the butt and take me on a date for the chow hall,” Watson said. “(Only) joking, but that is how Jay would keep me motivated and on track.”

Currently, Hagan is a business major in his first semester here, transferring from Grand Valley State University in Michigan. He and his wife Amber moved to the Sacramento area from Michigan, where he was a high school basketball coach.

“I ended up meeting the Monarchs’ coach,” Hagan said. “She offered me an assistant intern position, and I moved out here to further my career as a basketball coach.”

Since the Monarchs are in its off-season, he has been working as a personal trainer for a local gym. Hagan said that the only difference that he has noticed between living here and in Michigan are the drivers, but this is not a problem because he said he’s been in the second worst place in the world for driving: South Korea.

For Hagan wartime days are behind him as he focuses on school and his new career. Watson said that Hagan is the guy that he would not only like to be in the foxhole with him, but the person he’d like by his side all of the time.

“Jason and Mac were best of friends and I did everything I could to be there for Jay,” he said. “But more often than not, Jason was there for me. That’s just who he is.”

Stephanie Dumm can be reached at [email protected]