About Forrest Lang

Forrest Lang, author of Angel Blue: A Song of Redemption

Forrest Lang survived childhood abuse, foster care, homelessness, addiction, and war. The work he does today grew out of what he learned surviving all of it—and what he learned rebuilding his life afterward.

He is a full-time tattoo artist in La Jolla, California, a U.S. Navy veteran who served as a hospital corpsman in Iraq, the founder of SPARTA Peer Support, and a speaker and mentor with FOCUS Marines Foundation. He is also the author of Angel Blue: A Song of Redemption, a memoir about trauma, survival, recovery, and the long road home.

Tattooing. Recovery. Advocacy. Mentorship. Storytelling.

They may look like different things. To Forrest, they are all part of the same work: helping people heal, reclaim their lives, and move forward without being defined by what happened to them.

Why he does it

Childhood sexual abuse is common, but silence around it is still everywhere.

Survivors often carry what happened to them for years or decades. The effects can show up as addiction, anger, shame, isolation, broken relationships, and other struggles long before the trauma itself is ever spoken about.

Forrest understands what that silence can cost because he lived inside it for years. Speaking openly about what happened to him changed the direction of his life and gave him a way to understand parts of himself that had never made sense before.

That is why he speaks publicly about trauma, abuse, recovery, and survival. When one person speaks openly, someone else may finally realize they are not alone—and that their story can be spoken too.

How he got here

Forrest grew up in the Southern California foster care system after experiencing severe abuse and abandonment as a child. By sixteen, he was homeless and largely on his own.

As a young man, he joined the U.S. Navy and became a hospital corpsman. His early adulthood also included addiction, recovery, profound loss, and experiences that would shape the rest of his life.

After September 11, Forrest returned to military service and later deployed to Iraq as a line corpsman with Lima Company, 3/24.

Forrest Lang, US Navy corpsman, deployed to Iraq with Lima Company, 3/24

The life he has today was built over decades. Tattooing became a career. Recovery became a way of life. His experiences in foster care, addiction, the military, and the years that followed eventually became the foundation for his work in advocacy, peer support, mentorship, and writing.

His memoir, Angel Blue: A Song of Redemption, tells that story in full. Forrest has described writing Angel Blue as the hardest thing he has ever done.

Tattooing

Forrest has been a professional tattoo artist for decades. Tattooing is his career, his craft, and one of the most consistent parts of his life.

A tattoo chair can also become an unexpectedly honest place. People talk while they are being tattooed. They tell stories about loss, trauma, recovery, family, and experiences they may rarely speak about anywhere else. Over the years, Forrest has learned that sometimes the most important part of an appointment has nothing to do with the tattoo itself.

In his TEDx talk, Forrest tells the story of a survivor whose tattoo covered the physical evidence of violence. He describes tattoos like these as crime scenes because the body can carry evidence of what happened long after the event itself is over.

Tattooing cannot erase the past. It can, however, give someone the opportunity to reclaim a part of their body and choose what they want to carry forward.

A few pieces from the studio

Mucha's Blue Angel — a tattoo by Forrest Lang

SPARTA Peer Support

Forrest founded SPARTA Peer Support to create another path for people who need support but do not connect with the spiritual language found in many traditional twelve step programs.

The principles behind twelve step recovery have helped millions of people. Structure, accountability, honesty, community, and service can all be powerful parts of recovery. But for some veterans, trauma survivors, and others, belief in a higher power can become a barrier to participation.

SPARTA Peer Support keeps many of the principles that make peer recovery effective while remaining secular and spiritually neutral. No religious belief is required. The focus is on connection, accountability, shared experience, and helping people stay alive and move forward.

FOCUS Marines Foundation

Forrest serves as an instructor, speaker, and mentor with FOCUS Marines Foundation, helping post-9/11 veterans navigate the difficult transition from military service to civilian life. Based near St. Louis, the nonprofit provides a free residential program for veterans from every branch of the military.

Forrest Lang with a veteran between sessions at FOCUS Marines Foundation

FOCUS Marines Foundation addresses the isolation, anxiety, depression, and disconnection that many veterans experience after service. Through structured support, shared experiences, and a strong peer community, the program helps veterans begin rebuilding their relationships, confidence, and sense of purpose.

As an instructor, Forrest helps guide participants through the program and contributes to a supportive learning environment. He draws on his own experiences with trauma, recovery, military service, and rebuilding his life. He speaks openly with participants, listens to their experiences, and offers peer support grounded in understanding and shared experience.

His work with FOCUS Marines Foundation reflects his continued commitment to supporting veterans and strengthening the community that helped shape his own recovery.

Healthy Discomfort

Healthy Discomfort is Forrest’s podcast about the conversations people often avoid and the growth that can come from facing them.

The show explores trauma, recovery, relationships, mental health, personal responsibility, and what it means to move beyond the places where we feel comfortable. The conversations are direct, open, and grounded in real experience.

Listen on Spotify →

Away from the work

Forrest spends time with his family, travels, rides, and makes visual art. He is deliberate about the balance — not as a lifestyle brand, but because he knows exactly what happens to him when he isn’t.