Steven Hays served  in the U.S. Army in Iraq, and the war left him filled with memories he can’t shake.

His troubles led to drug and alcohol addiction and more than a decade of trouble with the law and personal strife. 

Now clean, and having cheated death for years on end, he is directing his focus to creating a new organization, Vets Lifting Vets. 

“I’ve been to Iraq, where I should have died many times,” Hayes said. “There is, without a doubt, a reason I have to be here, and a purpose, and I now know exactly what it is: Helping drop the number of veteran suicides from 22 a day.”  

Vets Lifting Vets made its first public appearance at the Out of the Darkness Walk for suicide prevention in Warrenton in September. A garage sale fundraiser is planned starting at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, at 1142 Nina Drive in Warrenton. Individuals and organizations are donating items for the sale. Hays said two other homes in the neighborhood are having sales during that time.

Hays’ next event is Oct. 4. It’s a march from McDonald’s in Warrenton to McDonald’s in Wright City via the North Service Road. The march will be complete when he walks back to the Warrenton McDonald’s. 

He plans to be the only one, but he said others are welcome to join at their own pace. The idea is to raise awareness and funds for establishing Vets Lifting Vets as a nonprofit organization. He already has a mission statement, a board of directors and they have started collecting money. They have a gofundme.com account for now, but there is more to come. 

The entire route is about 12 miles. It starts at 9 a.m. Hays said it will likely take him 2.5 hours, even while carrying a 50-pound rucksack, a backpack similar to what U.S. troops wear. 

The march is inspired by a more intense 12-mile trail he took on base at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. 

“I was always trying to beat my squad leader. He was always the first one and I was the second, sometimes first,” Hays said. 

Hays was an Army paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division. He enlisted right after graduating from Warrenton High School in 2005. He served until 2008. When he returned home, violent experiences from the war, facing death, seeing death and the smells and blasting sounds, kept him living, mentally, between civilian life and a war zone. He was diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.   

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs defines PTSD as a mental health issue that some people develop after experiencing or seeing a traumatic event. People with PTSD repeatedly relive the event. They often avoid situations that would trigger memories of the event. They can carry negative feelings and beliefs or feel anxious or on high alert as they expect impeding danger.

Hays’ PTSD, he said, keeps him anxious and hypervigilant. He spent the decade after the war self-medicating with alcohol and drugs to cope. His driver’s license was revoked and, after an intense flashback he doesn’t remember having, police were called to his home. 

Hays said what saved him after a yearlong heroin battle was Vivitrol. The drug blocks the receptors that make opioids feel so good to addicts. It may reduce a person’s urge to drink alcohol. Each dose is effective for about 30 days, but treatment is expensive. Injections are more than $1,000 a dose. 

While Hays had help with his treatment, not all veterans do, or not all veterans get the help they need when they need it.

“Twenty-two vets kill themselves every day while they’re on the waiting list to be seen (by Veterans Affairs). Twenty-two. My brothers. That’s outrageous,” Hays said. “I want to find veterans like me. Set them up with a minimum of six months of shots, a minimum of one year of counseling for the underlining problem of PTSD and a minimum of one year of outpatient drug treatment.”

Steven Kohler is the pastor at Creekside Place Church at 1420 E. Veterans Memorial Parkway. in Warrenton. 

Kohler and Hays went to high school together. Hays reached out to Kohler regarding Vets Lifting Vets. Kohler, who served seven years in the Army National Guard, immediately joined. He is a director and his focus is providing religious and spiritual counsel. 

Of Hays, he said, “I think he’s got a genuine heart to help hurting people who have been traumatized by this condition. He’s felt the pain of it and experienced the wrong way of dealing with it.”

Kohler said the group’s ultimate goal is to provide PTSD sufferers tools to cope with PTSD in a healthy way, with proven strategies, methods and support.  

“I’m excited for the potential it could reach. There are 15 to 20 vets with PTSD just here in Warrenton. These folks go through life with such a burden to bear.” 

PTSD did not exist in past wars. The medical community, more recently, recognizes it in soldiers, adult victims of violence, abused children and children raised in tumultuous environments.   

Kohler said, “I look forward to helping be a voice for all veterans and all people who have served our country.” 

Through Vets Lifting Vets, Hays started a PTSD support group. It meets Tuesdays from 11:15 a.m. to noon at Bridgeway Behavioral Health at 1206 E. Veterans Memorial Parkway in Warrenton. Hays said members are not professionals, but are people with commonalities who support each other. They don’t talk about the specific traumas they encountered.   

“How to cope is what we focus on,” Hays said. 

They hope to start a support group for family members and loved ones of veterans with PTSD in the future.   

Hays said he is ready for his march. At press time he was reaching out to first responder groups, city officials and the Missouri National Guard to request an escort.

For more information about Vets Lifting Vets, contact Hays at 636-377-1628, email 6363599829hays@gmail.com or visit the Vets Lifting Vets Facebook or gofundme pages. 

Steven Hays served in Iraq and came home to Warrenton in 2008 with post-traumatic stress disorder. Now he's leading an organization, Vets Lifting Vets, to help other veterans receive the mental heath care they need. Record photo/ Kate Miller.