Steve Hays, an Iraq War veteran, completed a walk Wednesday, Oct. 4, that was a decade in the making and an effort to save veterans’ lives. Hays called it a redemption walk. He started about 8 a.m. …
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Steve Hays, an Iraq War veteran, completed a walk Wednesday, Oct. 4, that was a decade in the making and an effort to save veterans’ lives.
Hays called it a redemption walk. He started about 8 a.m. from McDonald’s in Warrenton and took the North Service Road to McDonald’s in Wright City and then back again, a 12-or-so-mile distance.
He chose the date to honor his best friend, Sgt. Ricardo Rodriguez, who died 10 years ago on Oct. 4, 2007. On that day, Hays was walking just behind him when an explosion took his life.
Hay’s redemption walk had a mission to raise awareness and funds for Vets Lifting Vets. His backpack, or rucksack, weighed more than 50 pounds. He carried it with an American flag.
He was just one person walking alone and drawing attention from motorists.
“I had somebody stop to ask me what I was doing. He gave me $6. It was all he had on him,” Hays said. “A lot of people were honking, even over on the highway.”
Hays said Google maps estimated 2 hours and 37 minutes to get to Wright City. He did it in 1 hour and 45 minutes.
He said he felt fine after the first half, when he reached McDonald’s in Wright City. He took a short break there and then headed back to Warrenton.
The entire walk from Warrenton to Wright City and back took him 3 hours and 45 minutes.
The last time he walked so far at one time, he was still in the military.
When his redemption walk was over, he told followers on the Vets Lifting Vets Facebook page, “I’m in a tiny bit of pain everywhere, but I will live.”
He believes he is alive for a purpose, and he has found it.
Hays came home from Iraq Feb. 14, 2008, with post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and then drug and alcohol addictions to cope with the PTSD. When he got clean he made a promise to help veterans out of situations like he experienced.
The Warrenton resident started Vets Lifting Vets. The new organization will help veterans with PTSD.
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, founder of Vets Lifting Vets, walks the North Service Road from Warrenton to Wright City Oct. 4 to honor veterans and raise awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder. Record photo/ Kate Miller.
