Jared Ashley, a United States Navy Veteran who served two tours in the Persian Gulf, was invited alongside the 12th Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps to an insurance convention. It was there he was asked to give a speech about the trials and tribulations our veterans go through daily. As hope would have it, Richard Reyes and his wife Reyna were sitting in the audience. They were deeply impacted and motivated to learn more after the passionate speech by Ashly. After speaking with Ashley, they offered to join the fight to help our countries heroes and their challenges.

Ashley and the Reyes family quickly went to work. They hosted and supported many different veteran causes and events including, Operation Cherrybend, Operation Patriot’s FOB, Operation Red River, and even partnering with Ashley to send a deserving double amputee veteran through Dave Vabora’s Adaptive Training Program.

In 2020, when our country was hit with the COVID-19 pandemic, Ashley, who after the Navy moved to Nashville to pursue a career in the music business, got some well-needed time off and started working on new music. It was through this project Ashley discovered the truck of his best friend and Navy brother Jeffery “Ozzy” Otzwirk was still sitting in the same place he had parked it before embarking on his Navy career nearly 24 years earlier. Ozzy sadly took his own life in 1999 after serving his second tour in the Persian Gulf. His parents just couldn’t part with the truck.

“They left it parked in the same spot hoping one day he might come home and retrieve it,” says Ashley

Saddened but inspired, Ashley just couldn’t believe this story. As fate would have it, he felt compelled to “do something” and that something was to acquire the truck. He wanted to use it to not only honor and tell Ozzy’s story, but to tell the hundreds of thousands of stories of our veterans and active-duty personnel who never made it home. He wanted to bring hope and healing to those families, friends, and communities who have been affected by the suicide of their hero.

“We have lost more military personnel and veterans to suicide than we have lost in battle, and to me that’s just unacceptable and sad, says Ashley.

How come we’re not all talking about this?

“I was the last one to ever see him and I still struggle with the why. What signs did I miss? Was I not paying attention? I’ve questioned myself all these years. The pain of his loss has never gotten any easier and I don’t suspect it ever will, it’s excruciating.”

In the summer of 2020, Ashley approached his friends at Petty’s Garage, a high-performance speed shop founded by the “The King” Richard Petty to restore “Ozzy’s Truck”. They agreed.

A team had to be assembled, funds had to be raised, and the project needed to be fully documented from beginning to end. Ashley started pulling together resources, making phone calls, telling Ozzy’s story, and the plan had to be moved ahead.

One of those calls was back to Richard Reyes. It had been about a year since they last spoke and they had a lot of catching up to do. It was then when Reyes informed Ashley that he had been battling stage 4 colorectal cancer and it wasn’t looking good. Devastated by the news of Reye’s battle with cancer Ashley opted not to share Ozzy’s story. But with persistence, Reyes insisted on hearing about Ozzy and the project. Ashley shared with Reyes Ozzy’s story and afterward, Reyes emotionally stated “As long as I’m alive I will support our veterans, and I’m not dead yet!

Following Richards’s journey to remission on social media was inspirational, he just exuded positivity, and the amount of “Positive Vibes” was unreal for a guy possibly facing his last days.

“The fact he was so willing to support others when he needed it most was such an inspiration!” said Ashley.

Through the miracle of God and medical help, in 2022 Richard Reyes’s cancer went into remission. It was then Reyes hit the ground running making it his mission to encourage those going through the same thing he had gone through adding understanding and perspective along with his infectious positive energy, resources, and awareness.

Richard has always been the guy who stepped up to help others and now he needed help with his mission. In 2023, after seeing Reye’s many motivational videos on social media, Ashley reached out to Reyes to offer help spreading the word about colorectal cancer- the leading cause of death for men in America.

You combine Ashley’s military style attention to detail, never-give-up attitude with Reye’s driven, machine-like style, always positive attitude, and you have a combined mission we call “Operation Positive Vibes” We are bringing positivity to a situation that is typically very negative.

“Over the years I have coped with Ozzy’s death by doing these veteran events with the hope of finding some healing for myself and those in attendance who have suffered the same loss. says Ashley. “My faith in God and staying positive during my fight with stage 4 colorectal cancer is no doubt what got me through it.”

Our mission is clear, through our individual trials and tribulations we have joined forces to create “Operation Positive Vibes” to tell our stories of perseverance, survival, and staying positive with the hope we will be able to bring hope, resources, and awareness to any negative situation.