South Jersey Marine veteran donates jerky to troops across the world

MEDFORD, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Marine Veteran Jim Ewen of Medford, New Jersey made the selfless decision to serve the country in 1978.

At the time, he was just 18 years old and served in one of the highest divisions which supported the White House. Since then he's never lost sight that serving comes in more ways than one.

Now years later he found his life's calling with Jim's Jarhead Jerky. Ewen has got a binder of thank you letters from troops all over the world. While homemade jerky might sound simple, the sentiment carries a lot of weight.

"It's just a passion. It's a labor of love. It really is. It's a passion," he said, "People call it 'oh Jim you know you do jerky as a hobby.' Well now it's a job, but I love it."

Ewen is the proud owner of the global jerky business which started as a passion project. He said it goes back to 2009 when his only daughter married a fellow Marine. His son-in-law was deployed shortly after their big day to Iraq.

"I made a small batch of my homemade beef jerky," he said. "That went into his care package."

The small batch went a long way and through word of mouth Ewen started getting calls from troops all over the world.

That's when he launched his business, which now has become so popular he outsources his jerky to a company for mass production. In two years, Ewen donated more than 2,000 pounds of jerky to soldiers overseas.

Ewen has letters from several notable figures, including former President Donald Trump and Food Network Star Guy Fieri. But he greatly cherishes the letters he receives from those in uniform all over the world.

His wife Joette Ewen said it speaks to his warm heart.

"He's a big guy, but he's got a heart as sweet as can be," she said.

Jim's Jarhead Jerky is now sold in stores all over the world and people can ship it to their loved ones serving overseas.

For more information, visit Jim's Jarhead Jerky online