Crescendo for Life

Filmmaker Jason Jones Works for a Good End

Jason Jones was two days shy of seventeen when his girlfriend Katie told him she was pregnant. His life plan on waking up that morning had included college football and a career in the NFL. But right away he knew he'd lost the right to keep on being just a boy. They strategized on the spot. He would drop out of school and join the army, and she would keep the pregnancy hidden until he finished basic training. Then he would assume support for the three of them. It was an abrupt change of plans that in an odd way felt completely natural, even a little exciting.

Several weeks later, near the end of basic training, he was washing dishes in an army kitchen when a call came in. It was Katie, crying as he...