Dwight Days, left, carries a large mirror to a waiting dumpster. Days helped dozens of volunteers remove his storm- and water-damaged belongings from his home at 500 Ashley St. Saturday morning. Photo by Joe Gamm / News Tribune.

Five months after a tornado destroyed his home, U.S. Army veteran Dwight Days is finally beginning to let it go.

Days grew up in the home at 500 E. Ashley St., which he inherited from his mother. He slept in a bedroom on the top floor, facing south.

About 11:30 p.m. May 22, as the EF-3 tornado packing 160 mph winds approached, he had been snoozing. But he woke and couldn't return to sleep and began searching for a lost set of keys to his car.

"Something told me to go back downstairs and check for them," Days said. "I heard a crash. That crash was the back wall falling onto my bed, where I was sleeping."

Days returned to his bedroom, opened the door and looked up.

There was no roof.

Rain fell on his face.

And he could see the moon.

It only took a few seconds, but the tornado had demolished his house.

A friend who was staying with him was trapped in another bedroom but unhurt.

For the next few days, the veteran tried to stay in the home.

Well-meaning volunteers came to help with the cleanup.

But, when one tried to throw out his mother's quilt, he couldn't abide it any more.

He ran off the crews that tried to clean out his home.

Days found a nearby place to live.

His home and belongings quickly began to decay, he said.

Rain poured down on the insulation, then dripped down through the floors and walls.

Mold festered.

"It was hitting me," Day said.

But winter is coming, and he began to understand that he needed help.

"Dwight lived here all his life," said Pat Rowe Kerr, with When the Yellow Ribbon Fades, Missouri's Joining Forces. "All these old items are very tender to him. He just wasn't ready when they showed up."

Word spread through the veteran community that one of their own needed help. It reached When the Yellow Ribbon Fades — an all-volunteer organization that assists veterans through advocacy, education, navigation of resources, and coordination of benefits and financial resources. It reached Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1003 in Jefferson City.

It reached Heroes Outreach Program, which coordinates local meetings and gatherings across the United States to provide support for service members and veterans.

And, word of Days' situation reached faith organizations.

As he turned 60 (about a week ago), he accepted their help.

An army of volunteers showed up to clean out his house Saturday — veterans; Heroes Outreach volunteers; U.S. Naval Sea Cadets; members of Christian Fellowship and Woodcrest churches (in Columbia), Faith Lutheran Church and Wesley United Methodist Church; and other individuals.

They swarmed over the property and quickly filled a large demolition debris container with fiberglass, rubble and Days' ruined belongings.

A member of Woodcrest Church, Shawn Johnson said a church member had been working with Days regularly to help him arrive at a place emotionally where he could let go and allow people to help him clean out his home.

That day finally arrived Saturday, Johnson said.

"We're just helping out a vet," Johnson added. "We're trying to do more."

Pam Gilligan, with Heroes Outreach, said veterans who would like to discuss any concerns are all welcome to attend the organization's meetings. Meetings are intended to help veterans combat suicide and post-traumatic stress disorder. The organization hosts meetings in Moniteau, Miller and Cole counties and will soon hold meetings in Camden County.

"We have a weekly coffee talk to let veterans share what's in their hearts," Gilligan said.

Meetings in Jefferson City are 9-10:30 a.m. Wednesdays at Disabled American Veterans Chapter 17, 5054 Monticello Road.

About three dozen people reached out to help Days clean out his home and overcome the devastation he experienced during the tornado.

"I was traumatized," Days said. "I've never been through anything like that before. I never want to see it again."