Herman Jungbauer 🇿🇦

Free agent in mind, body & spirit - enjoying life

[Navy SEAL Left Behind @freedustyturner]

For 18 years, Dusty knew this place by heart: the woods where he played, the roads he wandered, the corners of town that held his childhood.

Then 31 years were taken from him.

Now he is home, but the landscape is different. The woods are gone. New neighborhoods stand where old memories lived. Life kept moving while he was forced to stand still.

There is a particular kind of loss in returning home and realizing that home has changed, too.

So he is taking it day by day - learning again the place that shaped him, while carrying the weight of everything that was stolen.

#crimestory #wrongfulconviction #bloomingtonindiana #freedustyturner

[TheAbolitionChristian℠ @AaronOlson1986]

FINISH THIS SEASON STRONG
Twice each week, I get the opportunity to speak at our facility's reentry workshops.

I work alongside a reentry navigator helping men prepare to return home after years -- sometimes decades -- inside prison.

And every time I stand in front of those men, I think about how strange life can be.

Because if you had met me at nineteen years old, you probably would not have imagined I would one day be speaking about leadership, discipline, healing, or reentry.

My name is Aaron Edward Olson

I’ve been incarcerated for twenty years.

I was sentenced to life for crimes I committed at 18 and 19

I turn 40 this year

Before prison, my life was chaos.

I was using drugs by age twelve.
I grew up outside Salishan in Tacoma -- a refugee housing project shaped by poverty, violence, instability, and survival.

My father was absent.
My mother was a single parent who struggled with mental health

I spent a lot of time on the streets, and some of that was homeless

When I entered the system, I could barely read.

Then I sat in county jail for four years fighting two cases.

Honestly, it was probably the darkest season of my life.

But from chaos to darkness, something started changing in me.

Not all at once.

Slowly.

The catalyst was surrendering my will and embracing God's plan for my life.

I started realizing I didn't want to be permanently defined by the worst decisions of my life.

I wanted to become something different.

Something better.

I started thinking about legacy.

And eventually I made a decision that changed everything:

If this is going to be my life
then I’m going to finish this season and every season afterward strong.

Not bitter.
Not reckless.
Not consumed by anger.

Strong, consistent, principled, accountable, with integrity.

That decision transformed the direction of my life.

When I finally reached prison, I started rebuilding myself piece by piece.

I earned every certificate and took every course
I earned a degree.
I started writing.
I published articles.
Built a podcast.
Launched a business from inside prison.
Worked with engineers and professionals
Filed a provisional patent with the USPTO.
Built relationships and projects I never could have imagined as a broken nineteen-year-old kid.

And I did all of it while navigating prison politics, lockdowns, mail delays, grief, disappointment, and the daily reality of incarceration.

And let me be honest with you:

None of this has been easy.

I’ve lost every appeal.
I spent years in solitary confinement.
I went through a divorce that nearly broke me emotionally and spiritually

I have failed more times than I can count.

But here is what I’ve learned:

Every obstacle carries the potential to become an opportunity.

Not automatically.

But if you choose to respond differently.

When my appeals failed, I could have collapsed into bitterness.

Instead, I redirected my energy.

I wrote.
I studied.
I created.
I started asking:
What can I build from this pain? Out of my unique experience?

And over time, I began realizing something deeper:

Transformation is real.

Not superficial change.
Not performative growth.

Real transformation.

The kind that changes the way you think
the way you speak
the way you carry yourself
the way you respond to suffering.

And personally, I believe God was present in that transformation even when I could not fully see it or understand it.

I believe there is something bigger than us moving through this world, willing to guide us, love us and walk with us.

Grace.
Purpose.
Calling.
Alignment.

Whatever language people choose to use, I believe human beings can tap into something greater through:
discipline
prayer
reflection
honesty
service
and intentional living.

That changed me.

Jesus changed me!

So here is what I want to leave you with today:

It does not matter how many years you have wasted.

It does not matter if you've been to prison once or ten times.

It does not matter how broken your past may feel.

What matters is what you choose to do next.

Finish THIS season strong.

Build discipline.
Develop structure.
Watch your words.
Protect your mind.
Learn emotional control.
Become dependable.
Become trustworthy.
Become someone your family can believe in again.

Because your life still matters.

Your family still matters.

Your community still needs healed people, and people willing to heal and help others heal.

And whether you fully realize it yet or not

people are counting on who you become next.

https://t.co/MYEyJLDDv9

[Navy SEAL Left Behind @freedustyturner]

After 31 years, Dusty stood in his childhood bedroom again.

At 18 years old, he left that room to chase a dream of serving his country. He returned 3 decades later carrying the weight of a wrongful conviction that stole most of his life #crimestory #wrongfulconviction #homesweethome #freedustyturner

[Herman Jungbauer 🇿🇦 @HermanRudman]

@freedustyturner @wflower2001 Hey Dusty. Finally! I can't help but smile and embrace the warm feeling in my heart, while watching this. Coming out of this nightmare, and being the awesome person that you are, is truly inspiring. Our Nelson Mandela "only" did 27-years - you both are my heroes. Love and respect

[Navy SEAL Left Behind @freedustyturner]

For the first time since his release, Dusty was back in the exact place where he once left as a young man determined to conquer the world and serve his country. He left Indiana to become an elite patriot. To return more than three decades later carrying the weight of a wrongful conviction - labeled as the exact opposite of who he truly is - is something no words can adequately describe.

Yes, he’s grateful to finally be home. But everything it not the same.

The landscape is different. His neighborhood has changed. Time has touched the people who stood there and watched him leave all those years ago. His family and friends are older. Loved ones carry the wear of decades lost. Life moved forward while he remained frozen in a nightmare he never should have endured.

How could anyone fully comprehend that kind of contrast - the emotional whiplash of returning home to a life that continued moving forward without you for 31 years?

It’s impossible for us to truly understand.

Dusty needs support now more than ever as he tries to process the weight of everything that was taken from him.

#crimestory #wrongfulconviction #welcomehome #freenotfree #freedustyturner

[Navy SEAL Left Behind @freedustyturner]

The fight continues, but tonight Dusty sleeps free! From the bottom of our hearts, thank you everyone for your support ❤️🌎💪🏻

#crimestory #wrongfulconviction #freenotfree #releaseday #freedustyturner

[Navy SEAL Left Behind @freedustyturner]

We still do not know when Dusty will be released‼️ #wrongfulconviction #freenotfree #freedustyturner

[Herman Jungbauer 🇿🇦 @HermanRudman]

@MinnehahaCounty

[Herman Jungbauer 🇿🇦 @HermanRudman]

@MinnehahaCounty

[Herman Jungbauer 🇿🇦 @HermanRudman]

@MinnehahaCounty

[Herman Jungbauer 🇿🇦 @HermanRudman]

@MinnehahaCounty

[Herman Jungbauer 🇿🇦 @HermanRudman]

@MinnehahaCounty

[Herman Jungbauer 🇿🇦 @HermanRudman]

@MinnehahaCounty

[Herman Jungbauer 🇿🇦 @HermanRudman]

@MinnehahaCounty

[Herman Jungbauer 🇿🇦 @HermanRudman]

@MinnehahaCounty

[Herman Jungbauer 🇿🇦 @HermanRudman]

@siouxfallspd

[Herman Jungbauer 🇿🇦 @HermanRudman]

@siouxfallspd

[Navy SEAL Left Behind @freedustyturner]

Prayers answered ‼️#wrongfulconviction #freenotfree #freedustyturner

[Navy SEAL Left Behind @freedustyturner]

💪🏻 Stand with Dusty #wrongfulconviction #freedustyturner

[Shabnam Parveen @shabnam_774]

Instead of watching an hour of Netflix, watch this 2 hour hour Stanford lecture will teach you more about how LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude are built than most people working at top AI companies learn in their entire careers.