Not just a hunting trip: Wings of Valor veteran retreats provide healing, community

On winter weekends, guests from around the country convene at the Wings of Valor lodge in Parker, South Dakota. Each morning of their stay, the group dons hats of blaze orange and steps into the crisp winter air.

One by one, with a shotgun in their arms, they ready their aim and a clay disc launches across theirfield of vision.

Bang.

For many, this is the first time they’ve held a firearm since active combat.

The clay shoot is more than a bonding opportunity. It's an intentional chance for each visiting veteran to gauge their own response to firearms. The feel of the trigger, the distinct, sudden sound or the smell of gunpowder can be enough to trigger strong memories. These sessions are typically full of smiles and good-natured banter, but that deeper layer of understanding doesn't go unnoticed. At the end of it all, these hunting retreats have little to do with bagging birds.

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'Surrounded by comfort' with other veterans

Wings of Valor is a non-profit lodge that hosts weekend hunting retreats to empower, heal and foster community among U.S. military veterans. The operation is run by veterans themselves, and the innate shared life experiences between retreat staff and their guests are what makes the lodge so special.

“I’m not saying we do anything more than other organizations or what their family can do for them, but it’s different when you’re able to come into a setting with like-minded individuals that have been through the same walk of life you have,” said Sean Adams, Wings of Valor president. “That’s where the healing process sometimes has to start.”

Twice a month from September to April, Wings of Valor flies seven or eight veterans to their property in Parker. With no televisions and limited internet access, there’s nothing to distract from the home cooked meals, new friendships and, of course, pheasant hunts.

The first outing usually takes the form of a European-style tower hunt, where pheasants are released from a central tower in a clearing to the hunters waiting at stations below. This allows veterans with limited mobility to have a fair chance at the hunt.

On the second day, participants join a more traditional walk-and-block hunt along nearby tree lines.

By the end of a given afternoon, the group of near strangers are swapping stories and cracking jokes like they’ve been friends for years. It’s no wonder some veterans described the U.S. military as the “biggest fraternity in the world.”

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When the group returns from their hunt, dozens of pheasants processed and bagged, retreat staff plans for plenty of down time. There’s no need for scheduled sessions to talk out big feelings, because that work happens organically, and starts in the hours before dinner.

“They start talking about random stuff, telling stories, and eventually, they start talking about hard stuff and what they experienced,” said Adams. “It’s that connection and being surrounded by comfort again, and they probably haven’t felt that in years.”

Wings of Valor retreat 'gives me purpose'

Philip Krabbe knew he wanted to become a volunteer for Wings of Valor by the time he left his first retreat.

“The glory of this place is that there are veterans from all walks of life, those who struggle with alcohol, drugs, PTSD, depression and those who don’t,” he said. “When you get those two together, it gives hope. This place gives hope.”

Krabbe served in the Marines from 2002 to 2010. While on a vehicle patrol in Iraq in 2006, he lost three friends to a roadside bomb that exploded the vehicle in front of his own. Unable to fully process the loss, when he finally returned home, he fell into a pattern of constant heavy drinking.

Unfortunately, even that wasn’t enough to numb the pain, and drug abuse followed. Krabbe started taking amphetamines to avoid horrible nightmares, staying awake for three or four consecutive days.

“The body can only take so much of that,” he said. “It is brutal, and I’m so blessed I survived it.”

Krabbe’s first visit to Wings of Valor allowed him to be among people who really understood the “darkness” he had lived in for so long. It isn’t the only veterans organization that helped him through his struggles, but the staff’s compassion and warmth calmed his anxieties so immediately that he knew he wanted to provide the same for others. He has since volunteered on nearly a dozen retreats.

“That’s what this place has done for me, it’s really turned my life around,” he said. “It gives me purpose.”

'I feel alive again'

Christopher Duerksen didn’t talk about his time in the Marine Corps for over 20 years. He said was sent as part of what he calls a “kill squad” to Kuwait for seven months in secret, and told in no uncertain terms he was expendable. If he died over there, he would be considered Missing in Action and no one would ever know what happened.

“I didn’t like myself and I didn’t like what the Marine Corps did to me,” he said.

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Duerksen would relive what happened practically every day, and could feel himself retreating from society.

“I can’t open up at home because that’s my sanctuary, and I don’t want my family to know the things I did,” he said.

When Duerksen was invited to the Wings of Valor, it was the first time in decades he finally cracked the shell he had created to keep out the world.

“This place has helped me to express myself and open up and tell stories,” he said. “For once, I feel alive again.”

'We're delivering on a promise to veterans'

Wings of Valor started in 2019 after a conversation between Adams and the organization's now-CEO Bruce Weller. Weller owned a private hunting lodge called Birds, Bucks and Berries, and told Adams his favorite day of the year was the annual veterans’ hunt he hosted.

“I said, we can make every day the best day of the year if you want,” said Adams, recalling the moment they decided to make their nonprofit.

The organization runs entirely on volunteers, donations and sponsorships to ensure no costs for veterans. Running 12 to 14 events every season is no small feat, but Adams says the hard work is worth it, because he can see the change it makes.

The Wings of Valor lodge in Parker will have served more than 400 individual veterans by the end of this hunting season, from 35 different states in three years. And Adams doesn’t plan to stop there.

The long-term vision Adams sees for these hunting retreats is to expand to multiple locations around the country. Six, to be exact. He said the lodge in Parker was “meant to be,” and is now on the lookout for five more “meant-to-be's."

“We’re delivering on a promise to veterans,” said Adams. “All veterans are dealing with everyday life and they need support.”

He describes the healing process for veterans as a meadow taken over by a wildfire, where everything seems burned away, but a new beginning can sprout from a planted seed.

“Wings of Valor is that seed,” he said. “We offer it to be planted on the first, second, fourth trip, whatever it needs to be, so you can come here and revive.”

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Wings of Valor veteran hunting retreats provide healing, community