Sailor Jerri and K9 Charlie

Hi! I’m Sailor Jerri. I am happily married to my husband Billy, we have 5 kids, 5 horses, a cat named Flub, and now 2 dogs. I was gifted Charlie (American Bully) by Dianne who owns NBTB Minnesota, and now I'm happy to be added to the Soldiers 6 family.
I served in the US Navy as an Aviation Mechanic working on F/A18 hornets, and also SH-60 Seahawks. After the military I attended college and got my degree in Multimedia Technology and marketing. I spent about 6 years as a firearms/permit to carry instructor in Minnesota, and then began learning guitar in 2016.
I started volunteering at the St. Cloud VA long-term care, where I sang for fellow veterans. I was new to guitar and I didn’t sound very good, but they couldn’t hear very well so it worked out for everyone . I was practicing guitar on FB and someone asked me to sing Hallelujah. I didnt know the words so I re-wrote it into a Veterans Version and posted it. The song went viral and was viewed 9 million times that week (and 150 million times that year). It launched a music career for me as Sailor Jerri, that I wasn’t looking for or expecting lol.
Since then I sing and do speaking panels for the military all over the country, I have released 2 albums, I tend to sing patriotic themed country music. I have written songs about when I joined, the song 22 about the ones we lose, a Memorial Day song and some others. I don’t pretend to know all of our experiences, or try to speak for us… but Ive been blessed to have a platform to have people listen. People who didn’t serve, and might not know the stories. Im fortunate that I get to tell them with music.
Charlie has been the greatest addition to my life. She fit me from the first day she came home. In 2019 I was rear ended on the highway going 75mph. My SUV spun a 180, flipped a guard rail and I rolled 6/7 times down a steep hill into a swamp. I walked away with “just some brain damage” lol. I have a TBI, was in occupational and speech therapy for almost a year, and still have trouble with memory issues, and words. I thought my new truck was the color “thirsty” and I will swear to you that Left is Right and vice versa. Between the TBI and trauma issues from a previous marriage, I am excited to have Charlie in my life to help with some balance.