By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Mathew Heinz of Dodge City joined the Marines on the day he graduated high school.
He was deployed to Iraq.
Years after coming home, things that happened during his time overseas started to surface and haunt him.
"I went through a divorce in 2016 after a 10-year marriage, and I was in a dark place," he said.
Matt's best friend that he grew up with suggested they go hunting with a veterans group — The Fallen Outdoors.
The national nonprofit group organizes outdoor activities for veterans of all ages, branches of service and skill levels. The group is all-volunteer run by fellow veterans.
Matt said the first hunt he went on was a dove hunt, and he was able to get his first dove on that hunt.
"I have become good friends with all of these guys, and we are all linked through TFO. We talk almost every day with each other about pretty much anything," he said in a testimonial for Fallen Outdoors.
He has been on over a dozen hunts, but said it's not about the kill or getting the most birds or the biggest buck.
"It's the experience of the hunt. When you're in the military, you form a brotherhood with the guys you serve with that is stronger than most family bonds," he said. "When you leave the service, it is very hard to find that since of brotherhood again.
"But you get a group of veterans together, no matter what era they are from, we all act the same, we all talk the same and we all feel that brotherhood. For just a second, you feel completely at peace and relaxed."
Austin Wheeler, Hays resident and Fallen Outdoors volunteer, is trying to make more veterans in Northwest Kansas aware of the organization.
The organization offers fishing, hunting, kayaking, camping, golfing, disc golfing and hiking.
This year, Team Kansas has taken 800 veterans on 180 outdoor trips. Not all of the trips are formally organized. Veterans can use the group's social network to find other vets in their area for informal or last-minute activities like camping or a round of disc golf.
All of the trips are free. However, veterans do have to provide their own hunting or fishing licenses and tags.
The organization can provide hunting, fishing and camping equipment, as well as instruction for those who are new to outdoor sports.
Kansas offers an apprenticeship license that will allow those who have not had hunter's safety yet to hunt with a licensed hunter, Wheeler said.
Wheeler said Fallen Outdoors creates a social network for veterans to lean on in times of need.
Wheeler is an eight-year veteran of the Army and served three deployments to Afghanistan. He said the group helped him build a group of friends.
"I moved to Hays and that is when I found the Fallen Outdoors,while trying to find like-minded individuals that I could relate to and feel open about talking about my military experience," he said. "It's helped me a lot."
Wheeler and his brother hunted and fished with his dad when he was younger, but he stopped when he entered the military. Fallen Outdoors has helped him rediscover the hobby.
"It gives me something to look forward to doing," he said. "It is something I can put my time into that I feel like it helps me socially. It helps me physically. It helps me have that brotherhood I missed — that camaraderie I missed in the military."
Veterans are using the Fallen Outdoors as a vehicle to help other veterans who are struggling. Its mission is to reduce the 22 veterans per day who die by suicide.
Sometimes a simple fishing trip might be that one thing that gives a veteran hope. Wheeler said the group has seen this reflected in the feedback from its participants.
Wheeler related an instance a staff person saw a post on one of the group's Facebook pages from a veteran who was having a rough night. That staff person drove six hours across the state to sit and talk with that veteran for several hours.
"We are here to help. We are here to talk to you. We are here to get you a hobby that you can do on your own," Wheeler said. "We want to try to build that self-confidence back up. We just want to do whatever we can to help one another. That is what it's all about is being there for each other."
Matt said the program has saved his life more than one time.
"In the darkest hour when evil is knocking [at] the door, I know I can lean on all of these guys and they will carry me to the light," he said. "I would in turn do the same for any of them.
"This program allows us veterans to be around other veterans that truly understand where you are coming from. Most civilians will never and can never understand what veterans have truly gone through. The war may have ended for most of us but we are still fighting and most of us won't stop fighting 'till the day we die."
If you are veteran interested in participating in a Fallen Outdoor event, you can join their The Fallen Outdoor Community page.
Through the month of December, Fallen Outdoors is conducting a 25 Days of Christmas event. Sporting equipment, Fallen Outdoors merchandise and even trips will be given away. Veterans just need to join a Fallen Outdoors Facebook page and comment on giveaway posts to enter.
The Fallen Outdoors accepts donations through its website. In addition the group is always looking for land owners, guides and sporting goods businesses to partner with the program. You can connect with the program through their regional Facebook pages.
You can also contact Wheeler at 913-370-3703 or at [email protected].