Sep 14, 2026
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
This was the initial reaction of Kansas City Irreverent Warriors organizer and Marine veteran Jacob Sellars when he attended his first Irreverent Warriors event in 2022. The loud music, the eccentric costumes and the abundance of participants wearing silkies (military-style running shorts) had been a sight to behold.
Four years later, on the morning of May 30, 2026, staff and visitors on the front lawn of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, turned their heads as the sound of rock and hip-hop music began to emanate from a speaker near Emmanual Cleaver II Boulevard to the south. In the distance, a long line of veterans, led by Sellars, began to cross the sprawling green field.
With American and military flags flying overhead, Sellars used a megaphone to declare: “We are the Irreverent Warriors. Our mission? To bring veterans together using humor and camaraderie to improve mental health and prevent veteran suicide.”
Founded in 2015, Irreverent Warriors is a non-profit, veteran-founded organization that utilizes lightheartedness and humor to create an environment of non-judgement, where veterans can connect and be themselves.
The premier event the Irreverent Warriors organizes, silkie hikes, involves veterans joining together to visit and explore cities around the world, dressed in traditional military silkies.
Although not required, the purpose of wearing silkies, according to Irreverent Warrior and Army veteran Ronnie Gonzalez, is to instill nostalgia, be eye-catching and memorable to spectators. “You can’t take yourself too seriously while wearing [them],” he said.
During silkie hikes, veterans will listen and dance to music, share experiences in service, crack jokes, see exciting new places and build camaraderie.
The Nelson-Atkins museum was just one of the stops for the Irreverent Warriors’ silkie hike through Kansas City. Two-and-a-half hours earlier, the Warriors met at Loose Park, just south of the Country Club Plaza, where they had breakfast and procured items that would be used for games throughout the hike, such as rubber chickens to be used in a chicken toss.
HEALING THROUGH HIKING
VFW Department of Missouri Commander Quincy Myrick joined the warriors that morning to provide security and regulate traffic for their hike through Kansas City.
“I was invited by two Irreverent Warrior members who are also members of [VFW] Post 1831,” Myrick said. “It was my first silkies hike, and it was memorable and wonderful in so many ways.”
Myrick commends the Irreverent Warriors’ veteran advocacy and finds similarities with the VFW.
“Irreverent Warriors, like VFW, are very active legislatively,” she said. “They focus heavily on suicide awareness and informed consent. They place a lot of focus on the physical and mental well-being of veterans. The silkie hikes are not only a unique form of camaraderie but are also a healing activity for those who take part.”
“The Irreverent Warriors are great,” said VFW Quartermaster General Marc Garduno. “The whole atmosphere is super positive. Folks openly mingle and everyone instantly seems to have a feeling of familiarity with each other. I’m looking forward to joining them on their next hike.”
FINDING A FAMILY
Sellars was initially invited to a Kansas City silkie hike by a fellow Marine via Facebook in 2022.
“I didn’t know what to expect at all,” Sellars said. “When I showed up, there were all these veterans, walking around with their gear ... next thing you know, we’re out on a hike.”
Over the course of the day, Sellars’ perception would change. The veterans would eventually hike to the nearby Boulevard Brewing Company, where Sellars got a call from his wife.
“How are you doing?” she asked. “How’s the hike?”
“I feel like I’m with family,” Sellars replied. “I feel at home, in a way.”
When the hike concluded that evening, Sellars was concerned he would lose the bonds he formed with the veterans he met on the hike.
“I didn’t think the connections I had made that day were going to matter,” Sellars said. “I got home and told my wife, ‘I’m having post-hike blues. I don’t understand why I’m so sad.’ ”
Sellars knew that he needed to maintain these newfound relations. He would eventually reach back out to hikers he had met to arrange another hike in Kansas City, and before long, Sellars would take over the role of local coordinator for Irreverent Warriors.
“I was recommended for the role of Kansas City coordinator after the previous guy retired in August 2024,” Sellars said. “I’ve been trying to live a fuller life and make more connections, and with the Irreverent Warriors, it becomes your tribe. It becomes your family.”
The Irreverent Warriors aren’t limited to hosting events in the U.S. In June, Sellars joined a silkie hike in Rome, Italy. The organization also has coordinated hikes in London, Frankfurt and Punta Canta, Dominican Republic.
“I felt the connections right away when I first joined the Irreverent Warriors,” said Air Force veteran and co-coordinator of the Kansas City silkie hike Carrie Finnegan. “You get out of the military, and you feel like you’ve lost that brotherhood/sisterhood. Irreverent Warriors brings back that closeness.”
According to Gonzalez, the Irreverent Warriors’ mission is to “pull veterans out of isolation and have their backs. It’s a safe place for veterans to open up and talk about things, to get
them out of the house, out of their routine, to be with people who can relate to them.”
PURSUING LASTING MEMORIES
As the Irreverent Warriors were leaving the Nelson-Atkins museum, it was announced over speakers that a marriage proposal was taking place on the front lawn.
One of the warriors sought out the couple, and to further celebrate the special moment, asked: “We’re the veteran organization Irreverent Warriors, can we create a hand tunnel for the both of you to run down?”
With more than 100 hikers present, the couple excitedly ran down the sidewalk to the Irreverent Warriors’ cheers and congratulations.
“What just happened? That was so amazing,” the couple remarked.
Creating moments like this for both veterans and the public embodies the mission of Irreverent Warriors.
This article is featured in the 2026 September/October issue of VFW magazine, and was written by Danny Cook, senior writer for VFW magazine.