Karson Tager was meant to be in the radio industry; he just didn’t know it in 1988 when he joined the Army.
Tager decided to join the Army and go Airborne in hopes of getting some life experience and a college education.
“I moved around a lot growing up, and wasn't disciplined at all when it came to my schoolwork, and I knew that I wanted to get out of the house,” Tager said. “I wanted to try and figure out things on my own, but I wasn't going to get into college at that point, and so I saw the military as an opportunity, which, at that point, when I went in, it was an opportunity for me to maybe figure out what I wanted in life.”
Tager, an E-4 Specialist in the communications department, was stationed all over, including Forts Bragg, Jackson, Gordon and Benning, Waegwon, South Korea, and Karlsruher/Heidelberg, Germany.
Of all the places he was based, Korea was the most isolating.
“You know, we didn't have the communications like we do today, and you really felt separated from the rest of the world,” he said. “And it was a difficult time, you know, being away from friends, being away from family, being in a country where nobody spoke your language.”
Tager was in Korea right around the time of Operation Desert Storm.
“We were having to do a lot of things, as far as you know, guard duty and security checks and all of this, because where I was stationed is where they would keep all of the military supply,” he said. “So anything that would be going off to a war zone in Southwest Asia came from my military base.”
But it wasn’t until he reached Germany that his life changed forever.
Tager thought when he signed on the dotted line, he would do his four years and that would be it. But after about two years, he started to rethink his future.
“I really started to think that this could be my life for the next 20 years,” he said, noting that both his dad and brother had served in the military. “So I just saw myself as like, maybe this is it. Maybe this is what I'm going to do for the rest of my life.”
But then he was stationed in Germany for two years, and it only took meeting one person to change the course of his life forever.
“I met somebody who worked for Armed Services Radio and I had always been enamored with that,” he said. “You know, I got into communications in the military, but it was satellite communications. I was out on the side of a mountain with a satellite dish. It wasn't anything like broadcasting or media.”
So Tager asked the man if he would give him a tour of the radio station, and he did.
While touring the station, Tager swiped an industry publication out of the studio and called the radio station back home.
“I said hey, when I get out of the military, I'm going to be coming back home and I'm looking for some work. And that was kind of the beginning of my radio career,” he said. “If I had not gone into the military and ended up in Germany at that studio on that day and found that magazine and called that station, I probably wouldn't be where I am today.”
Now, Tager has been in Boston as the morning show host of Audacy’s Mix 104.1 for almost 17 years.
“I think when you’re young and you’re starting out on your career path, you never imagine working any place that long,” he said. “And now as I sit here, I can’t imagine working anywhere else. It’s been incredible – the Audacy team in Boston is just the best, they really are.”
Tager said when he left the military after four years, he was lucky to not have a tough time adjusting to civilian life. That’s not to say he doesn’t have constant reminders of his time serving and remembers the sacrifice he and so many other people have made.
“You know, when I got out, I went back to school, started my career in radio, started to build a family, discovered a love of music that I didn’t know I had and started to play guitar,” he said. “In fact, I have a guitar hanging on my wall right now and I have a big Airborne sticker right across the front because I think it epitomizes a lot of what my life has been, you know, to be able to serve my country.”
As Veteran’s Day approaches Tuesday, Tager said it makes him think about how his life has turned out, and how he owes a big ‘thank you’ to the man who helped shape his future as well as the many men and women who have helped shape and defend the country’s past, present and future.
“I was fortunate when I was in, you know, never had to step foot on the front lines. I never saw gunfire. I never saw some of the tragic things that a lot of our military have experienced and are still dealing with today,” he said. “So I'm grateful today for my service, but for Veterans Day, I just like to think about those people that were really on the front lines and were in it. I just can't imagine.”
Tager said for a long time, he didn’t talk about his time in the military, and feels that a lot of people who served just leave it behind and don’t embrace it.
“As I’ve gotten older, I’m trying to embrace it a little bit more,” he said. “Besides having children and a family, it will be the greatest thing that I ever did – serving my country.”