It’s a day to introduce you to a new subject — “The Passions of Chris Bryant.”
Passions drive and define. Passion is a difference maker. Passion changes lives, helps make lives worth living. Passion can produce greatness, love, save lives and change someone’s world.
Chris Bryant
Let’s meet this passion-filled Chris Bryant, a 52-year-old captain at the Knox County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) who directs training for Sheriff Tom Spangler’s men and women. Big job. A job not to be overlooked or minimized. It’s the same with the Rocky Top Veterans Foundation. Bryant is its founder, his baby, so to speak.
Training others is a Bryant passion. Let’s review his other passions:
- Family — wife Taryn, their three adult children (two daughters and a son), two grandchildren and two more on the way.
- Public service — First responder 25-year career at the KCSO that began in 1996. Wife Taryn, who now works at Y-12 in Oak Ridge, also worked on patrol for the KCSO for 22 years.
- Military veterans — He’s the founder, along with Taryn, of the Rocky Top Veterans Foundation, supporting some 1,000 veterans spread through Knox County and six other East Tennessee counties.
- Military service — Veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps as a machine gunner and is a current member of the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 252nd Military Police unit based in Oneida. He was a firearms instructor as a Marine.
- Fly fishing — “I started this as a hobby eight years ago and it has become a passion to relax and get away from things,” he says.
Six passions can keep anyone busy. And Bryant thrives on being busy. Makes one wonder if he sleeps much. “I wonder about that too,” he said.
Sheriff Spangler said: “Chris is one of those guys who has continually served others through his extensive career as a law enforcement officer and his service to our country. As his Sheriff I am proud of the job he does on behalf of our citizens, and as a veteran, I am humbled by the work he does for all of our veterans. It truly is commendable.”
Bryant is all Knoxville right down to his boots, a South Knoxville kid reared in Vestal’s Montgomery Village. “I survived those early years in the projects and saw a lot of the police (Knoxville Police Department) living there and that got me interested in law enforcement. Mom eventually moved us to Lenoir City and it was a lot quieter and calmer there,” he says. In 1991 he graduated from Lenoir City High School.
His KCSO days began in 1996 and he began his career at the detention center. A year later he joined the Marines and was gone from 1997 to 2001. In 2002 he rejoined the KCSO in the jail where he worked until 2004. Then he was on patrol and assigned to the Narcotics Unit for 12 years. He served for three years on an FBI Drug Task Force and was promoted to lieutenant on the Narcotics Unit. Next, he became the KCSO director of training and was promoted to captain.
While working full-time, he created the Rocky Top Veterans Foundation in 2020 to fulfill a heartfelt passion and love of all veterans. The foundation helps the vets dealing with a plethora of issues, including suicide, depression, anger, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, difficulties in transitioning from active duty to civilian life, experiencing gaps in mental health support and veterans’ benefits, and missing their military jobs and friends.
“Being a vet, I knew and saw the problems they were having and I felt a need to step in and help,” he says. “Vets are a major passion for me.” It’s very personal for the Bryants. They are in contact with around 1,000 veterans monthly and Taryn sends each a personal birthday card too. It’s an all-volunteer organization with about 40 core volunteers. No one is paid a salary.
The suicide issue is a primary foundation focus. America’s military veterans make up about 6% of the adult population but account for about 20% of all suicides. That means that each day, about 18 veterans — both men and women — end their lives. “We lose several veterans here in our area alone,” Bryant said.
Rocky Top Veteran Foundation’s leaders — Tina Rhea, owner of REO Cheese Wagon and Chris Bryant
Fire-Team Tennessee is a special team that works to end suicides. It is a life-saving network of community members and organizations trained to identify the warning signs, ask questions and provide assistance to veterans in crisis, directing those vets to the help they need.
Bryant says the veterans they assist are from World War II, the Korean Conflict, Vietnam, Desert Storm in the Middle East, and Operation Enduring Freedom, primarily in Afghanistan.
The foundation hosts suicide prevention seminars every other month. They bring in speakers trained in preventing and dealing with suicide. Veterans and their families attend and he says they typically have between 15 to 25 people at each. “Our focus is on their mental health challenges, recognizing the signs that could lead to suicides, the grieving process and how to find help,” he explained. “We use role play as part of the education process. And our seminars are open to the public, too.”
They assist homeless veterans with finding housing, be it a motel room or an apartment. They make sure they have food. If they are living alone foundation volunteers even help with house chores. “It just depends on the need,” Bryant said. “We don’t give them money. We just assist them.”
Special events are held year-round to raise money and keep the veterans connected. Its Sustained Valor Campaign is about shaking hands with the veterans and giving each a special Giving T-shirt (some 2,500 given away so far). Their most successful fundraiser is the annual Bourbon & Bow Ties event held at the Skyview at Broadway Social Center in Maryville. Casino Night is another major event. The foundation also is a part of the local Wreaths Across America project.
Bryant says he’s always hoping for and looking for volunteers to help the veterans. Donations are welcomed. If you are interested, visit the foundation’s website here or call Bryant at 865-659-1001. If he does not answer, leave him a message and you will hear from him. You also can check out their schedule of events.
Bryant’s passion for our veterans is contagious. It’s a passion shared by his wife and their volunteers. And passion creates love. Loving veterans is what they do best.
“We are a boots on the ground organization and we know our veterans with our face-to-face interactions and we stay in touch with them,” Bryant said. “It’s a calling.”
Tom King has been the editor of newspapers in Texas and California and also worked in Tennessee and Georgia. If you have someone you think we should consider featuring, please email him at the link with his name or text him at 865-659-3562.
Our Town Hero is sponsored by Aubrey’s Restaurants.
