I was an athlete with a football scholarship, my parents were still married; Dad was “GI Joe,” and my mom was a counselor. I had a ton of friends and the world at my feet.
To any outsider, Lars appeared to have it all together: a doting wife with whom he shared a passionate marriage in faith, a military career behind him, and a love for life that was unparalleled. When you dig a little deeper, you find that Lars’ story is much more intricate.
“I have my degree in Biblical Studies (working on my PhD), a wife who loves me despite a long, bumpy road, and some incredible kids. I also have a 12-page arrest record and have been to rehab five times.”
Having grown up in a small town in South Dakota, Lars lived a life many kids dream about. A star athlete and son of a 33-year Military Veteran, he embodied the popular kid. Because of his athletic abilities, Lars made varsity teams early, catapulting him to be accepted by the upperclassmen. “The fact that I had a Military ID and a fake ID and was able to buy alcohol for my friends didn’t hurt either.”
Following graduation from high school, Lars watched his friends leave for college. At the encouragement of his father, he chose to forgo his freshman year to work. Feeling left behind, he joined the military under the deception of a creatively placed tattoo and altered medical record. Shortly into basic training, Lars tore his ACL and was faced with surgery or heading home.
“I wanted to leave so badly – but I was coerced into the surgery and staying in,” recalls Lars. “To get through the rehab, I kept drinking and taking all the pain pills they prescribed – it helped to numb not only the pain but the questions I had in my faith. I always knew God was there – but I questioned His plan.”
In 2010, Lars deployed. During that trip, he suffered a torn hamstring after his Humvee hit an IED and rolled over. “By that time, I didn’t want to go home – I had finally made friends, and now I was being left behind again.”
Undergoing another surgery, Lars was once again prescribed pain pills – this time, he took a particular liking to them, opening a door that would not soon close. “I was always an athlete and maintained a muscular physique – but during that time my body went from 225 lbs to 137 lbs in the matter of one year.”
Feeding his addiction by any means necessary, Lars maintained his $3,000-a-month habit by stealing, lying, and sleeping on any couch he could find. Eventually, he found himself forced into an outpatient rehab, where he was treated like any other junkie who walked through the door.
Immediately returning to the life that he was familiar with, Lars quickly found himself drowning in addiction and challenging his worth. A tumultuous relationship with a close friend brought him back to court, where he was given the ultimatum of rehab (Round 2) or prison.
People who relapse often face factors in the days, weeks, or months leading up to the actual act of relapsing. These usually come in the form of difficult feelings or experiences that challenge their ability to cope with their addictions without their substance of choice.
After successfully completing his second visit at a treatment center, Lars stood toe-to-toe with one of the most difficult opponents he had faced yet – himself. An all-too-frequent battle among our nation’s heroes that is often lost, Lars attempted to end his own life. Defeated, the following day, his sister encouraged him to come back to church.
“Have you ever asked a suicidal addict to openly come to a church service – and have it go well? I sat in the furthest seat I could find – I was riddled with guilt, I knew everyone was judging me.”
A joke from the pastor triggered Lars’ boisterous and unique laugh – garnering the attention of another clergyman, who took note. “I surrendered to Christ that day. I couldn’t get enough,” recalls Lars.
Just as life seemed to be going right, Lars’ past caught up with him, and he was arrested for outstanding warrants. “I immediately blamed God,” recalls Lars. “I couldn’t understand how He would put me in this position after I had surrendered my life to Him. What else did I have to do?!”
The answer: another visit to a rehabilitation center (Round 3).
No longer taking pain pills or opiates, Lars considered himself “sober,” even though he was still drinking. Finding himself rebuilding an existence that he once thought was a far dream, Lars married his now-wife and welcomed her and her two children into his life. He was on his way – until an injury during a training mission in 2016 with his Guard unit brought addiction screaming back.
“My daughter was born in August of that same year – and I don’t remember a single moment of that day. I had blown five months of our mortgage payments on drugs, and I was so high, I don’t remember my daughter’s birthday. I can’t get that day back.”
Without any other options, Lars’ wife demanded he go back to treatment (Round 4). They called a hotline, where the voice on the other line mentioned a new facility in Bandera, Texas, that had just opened – and was right up his alley.
Warriors Heart, a private treatment facility exclusively for Warriors, provides care for addiction, chemical dependency, and PTS for active military, veterans, law enforcement, and first responders. Their team works through trauma with evidence-based and experiential modalities so the event, in whatever capacity, no longer hijacks the lives of these Warriors.
At the time of Lars’ stay at Warriors Heart, the treatment program was only 28 days – and he counted every last one of them. While he looked at his time at Warriors Heart as if it were a summer camp – playing tricks on staff and other clients, not taking sessions seriously (he met his best friend in detox) – he noticed something was different from his previous treatment facilities. “They understood me there.”
“Military (both active duty and veteran), first responders, and law enforcement have very different life experiences from the rest of the population; facing unique physical, emotional, and mental health demands,” stated Warriors Heart Co-Founder Lisa Lannon. “These exceptional circumstances oftentimes lead to issues with Substance Abuse Disorders and chemical dependencies, as they provide temporary feelings of relief or self-medication for stress, trauma, and PTS symptoms.”
There is a well-known saying among veterans and first responders: “The only one that knows what a soldier is going through is another soldier.”
Warriors Heart is a place where that mentality – warriors helping warriors – resides in the hearts of every member of the team. Other warriors and team members personally connect with those who have reached a point in their life where they think they have nothing to live for, showing them that strength is found in this unique facility that simply and truly believes in the power of the warrior community.
Upon completing the 28-day program, Lars returned home, and on day 29 he was using again. Spending the following four months in a drug-induced haze, Lars had zero recollection of family vacations, birthdays, and daily events.
Once again, Lars was met with an ultimatum from the one person who stood by his side through it all – his wife. “I don’t know why she didn’t leave me – she had plenty of chances. But she told me that she promised God that she would help me.”
Accepting that he was at a point of no return, Lars knew the only place that could really help him was Warriors Heart, which had grown into a 42-day program. But he faced another obstacle: “I failed them – I hadn’t been gone for four months, and I needed to come back. They were going to laugh at me as soon as I got there – I knew it.”
Preparing for his return to Texas (Round 5), Lars’ wife looked at him and begged him, “Find your WHY.” He had to learn how to unpack the real traumas in his past and address the reasons for his return.
“When I rolled through those gates, I had a combination of relief and absolute fear. I was so ashamed of myself, and I knew everyone there was going to be as well.”
What happened next was something Lars could have never expected. With his head as low as it could hang, he walked up to the woman he had come to know as Mom. “We called her ‘The Dean’ because you couldn’t get anything past her!” Vonnie, the Director of Sober Living at Warriors Heart, had seen it all.
“I could barely get the words ‘I’m sorry’ out when she opened her arms and hugged me.” It was the two words that Vonnie uttered next that every warrior longs to hear – “Welcome Home.” Lars knew then that this was his last chance. He wasn’t going to fail this time – he didn’t want to let himself, his family, or the team at Warriors Heart down.
“Welcome Home means you can’t ever do anything bad enough to not deserve love,” stated Vonnie. “The warriors who walk through these gates have been torn apart, and we are here to help bring them back and put their pieces together again.”
Recalling that moment when Lars walked back into her office, Vonnie remembers that he wouldn’t make eye contact with her. “I needed him to see me, to see in my eyes that he wasn’t below me. That I loved him for who he was, and that he was deserving of that love.”
Looking around her office at the trinkets and mementos strategically placed in every corner and on every shelf, Vonnie takes a heavy breath. “We honor the ones we lose by keeping our doors open for the ones we can save.”
High-functioning professionals, such as the Warriors who come to Warriors Heart, tend to require longer stays because they have often abused drugs for many years in secrecy and feel shame.
Additional time in treatment allows people to learn to handle stress, develop ways to cope with environmental cues that could trigger drug use, and improve relationships that are needed to sustain recovery.
“We, as a society, love quick, no-mess solutions – the easy button,” stated Lisa Lannon. “With health and wellness, we are particularly impatient about the time it takes to achieve our goals. But in the case of drug and alcohol dependence, it has become profoundly evident over the years that the ‘easy button’ just isn’t the answer.”
Warriors Heart offers a Full Continuum of Care, which includes: Detox, Day Treatment, Residential Treatment and Training Programs (Level I), Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), Sober Living (60-day minimum), Aftercare, and the Lakeside Program (Level II), to be able to assist more Warriors, including extensions and minimizing any waiting list.
Warriors Heart’s mission is to bring warriors home — not in a flag-draped casket, but alive, whole, and ready to live again. This is sacred work to everyone on the Warriors Heart team – and it’s treated with the honor and urgency it deserves.
Sober since 2018, Lars now gives back to his community as a public speaker and pastor, mentoring youth and addicts on a life without addiction.
A small tattoo sits on the inside of his hand – a Warriors Heart logo, a reminder of the place that showed him what family was all about. “I got it on my hand because South Dakota gets cold – and I never want it to be out of my sight.”
When asked what he considered one of the greatest accomplishments in his life, he replied, “I asked for help. I needed to fight for myself. The team at Warriors Heart fought for me before they even knew me.”
If you or a warrior need help with addiction, PTS or co-occurring issues, please contact Warriors Heart’s 24-hour hotline (888-440-7107) answered by warriors and/or visit https://www.warriorsheart.com.
Call 24/7 @ 1 844-958-1183 or visit the link below.
https://www.warriorsheart.com/contact-us/
