The Veterans Sound Off Podcast
On each episode of the show we will travel across the State of Mississippi and visit each American Legion Post and discover how the members there are still serving America in their communities.
The Veterans Sound Off Podcast
Veterans Serving Veterans: The Mid-South Veterans League Story
When veteran Terry Adams stepped out of a meeting to use the bathroom, he returned to discover he'd been elected president of a brand-new veterans organization. That unexpected moment launched the Mid-South Veterans League Inc. (MVLI), now working to revolutionize support for approximately 100,000 veterans across Tennessee's Shelby County and surrounding areas.
The Veterans Sound Off podcast brings us an intimate conversation with Terry Adams (Marine Corps veteran and MVLI President) and Bob Bunton (Navy veteran and MVLI Secretary) about their ambitious vision. What begins with good-natured inter-service ribbing quickly reveals the profound bonds connecting veterans across all branches.
"We've seen things others will never see. We've done things others will never do," Adams explains, highlighting why veterans need dedicated spaces where they can freely express themselves without civilian judgment. This understanding drives MVLI's centerpiece project: a $7.2 million, 13,000-square-foot community center in Lakeland, Tennessee.
Unlike traditional veterans organizations that sometimes compete for dwindling membership, MVLI serves as a unifying force for 32 different veterans groups. From providing military funeral honors to helping veterans in crisis, they fill critical gaps in the support system. Their Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall event drew over 4,000 visitors despite summer heat, showcasing their ability to mobilize community support.
What truly distinguishes the MVLI is their practical, hands-on approach. When a veteran couldn't afford groceries, they met him at the store. When they discovered his car was nearly empty, they filled his tank. "If we don't take care of each other, who will?" Adams asks simply. It's this spirit of mutual support—spanning from Vietnam veterans to today's newest service members—that makes their work so powerful.
Discover how you can support MVLI's mission through their upcoming fundraisers or by visiting their monthly meetings. Veterans have already paid their dues through service—now it's our turn to ensure they have the community spaces and support networks they've earned.
Don't forget to subscribe and share with your friends and family. Drop us a line today at JDAllhands@outlook.com. If you'd like to become a sponsor of our show or advertise with us please send an email to jdallhands@outlook.com or call us at 662-902-6658.
This is the Veterans Sound Off Podcast Hard work work. Let's get it going, let's go.
Jerry Allhands:I'm your host, jerry Allhands, a veteran of the US Air Force and Army and a Mississippi Pass Department Commander of the American Legion. Each week, we will visit an American Legion post and visit with the Legion family there. As we travel the state, we'll visit with other groups and organizations that are serving America's veterans and their families. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast and mark your calendars as next Monday we return to Carnath in the upper northeast corner of the state and visit with the Legion Riders of Perry A Johns Post 6. This podcast series is made possible by the financial support of listeners such as yourself. For more information on how you can support our mission, please call 662-902-6658. That's 662-902-6658. On today's episode, we're going to step away from visiting an actual American Legion post and instead we'll sit down for a visit with two veterans who are also Legionnaires but who are also serving the veteran community and the citizens of Shelby County, tennessee, and their surrounding areas we play Hard work, hard work, it's what they say. Hard work, hard work, I earn my pay.
Jerry Allhands:We're back in Olive Branch, mississippi, today, at the Olive Branch Country Club. Today we're going to be meeting with Bob Button and Terry Adams. Our subject matter today is the MVLI. I want to welcome you. Gentlemen. Back and Bob, if you would, how about opening us with an opening prayer?
Bob Buntyn:Ward, thank you for allowing us this beautiful day in Outer Branch, Mississippi. Please bless our veterans, our civilians and all of those living in the United States today. Thank you for the opportunity for the future and the blessings of the past. We ask these things in your name, Amen.
Terry Adams:Amen. Terry Adams, I'm the president and CEO of the Mid-South Veterans League and the MVLI Foundation. It's an organization designed to assist veterans in just about anything and everything that comes up, and I mean we've done just about all of it.
Jerry Allhands:Just about all of it.
Terry Adams:Just about Bob.
Bob Buntyn:Hello, I am Bob Bunton. I am secretary of the Mid-South Veterans League and, as Terry said, we are involved in a lot of different things with veterans in the local community and plan on doing even veterans in the local community and plan on doing even more in the future.
Jerry Allhands:Terry, tell me what is the Mid-South Veterans League.
Terry Adams:In the Mid-South area. Here I have to say that Shelby County, tennessee, has the largest group of veterans in the state of Tennessee, with over 50,000. In the four counties surrounding Shelby County we have another estimated 40,000 to 50,000. So we have about 100,000 veterans that we're working with and there are, right in Shelby County, 32 veterans groups and each group, of course, is autonomous, but at the same time each group does a lot of the same things and our thought is why not work it together? Many of the groups are getting smaller because the veterans are dying out. Fewer joining, there's been a need for fewer enlistees and so, as the groups get smaller, if we don don't band together then we are all going to lose. Right now we have american legion, vfw, purple heart, dav, irreverent warriors, air force association, marine corps league, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, on and on that. Uh, we've got people coming in to to give their opinion, to help and us, and that really makes a difference.
Jerry Allhands:Terry, did you serve in the military?
Terry Adams:I was a Marine, I am a Marine, I will always be a Marine, and I think that's the only branch of the military there is out there. The rest of it's the service.
Jerry Allhands:So is it 64 colors. Is that enough? I prefer the 132 myself. That's a big box of crayons.
Terry Adams:Yeah, it's got the sharpener with it and everything, yeah. You know you chew on them for a little bit. You really need to have some sharpen them up.
Jerry Allhands:Keeps the wax off the teeth. Right Got to pick on the Marines. Thank God for the Marines.
Terry Adams:Well, I'm just glad we have all that support back home with the Army and the Navy and the Air Force. There's a couple more, aren't there? Coast?
Nora Moreland:Guard Coast Guard.
Terry Adams:Space Force. Oh yeah, the grandsons to the Army, the Space Force. Yeah, I forgot about that one. Most people do right now.
Jerry Allhands:Yeah.
Bob Buntyn:We want them to forget about the Space Force. It's a very secretive program.
Wreaths Across America:Yeah, that's true, it really is.
Bob Buntyn:We actually know someone that's associated with that program. He owns his own airplane. He flies from Memphis to St Louis to have dinner and flies back, and that's as far as I'll go with that.
Terry Adams:You have fewer people in the Space Force than any other branch because it's more electronic than any other branch it's probably why they won't let me in, because it's electronic, then I'm old oh, I understand. Uh, if I touch electronics they tend to short out for some reason. So you know, just give me an old m1, m14, I'm a happy camper, hey I was lucky to be able to plug this into the wall well, I noticed that you were.
Terry Adams:We were all watching to make sure you got both prongs in at the same time and here I am a crypto gear radar operator and that's all I did was electronics so he should have been the one plugging stuff into the wall. Really, you had experience on hand and didn't even realize it. There you go.
Jerry Allhands:Crypto what branch for you?
Bob Buntyn:I was a communications gentleman and our right was established specifically for the Vietnam War. The difference between a communications gentleman and a radioman a radioman had to know Morse code. I already knew Morse code because I was a Boy Scout, so I fast-tracked the communications. I had a boot camp, only six weeks of training, before I went to Vietnam and landed in Da Nang, Camp Tensha. They briefed me on my duties of communications. That was my first tour Back in San Diego. I was at Coronado Island and they sent me to San Diego, to Special Warfare School to train on an SPS-10 radar system. I was never rated as a radar man, but that was my duty. My second tour in Vietnam was running an SPS-10 radar system. That is a ground air radar system. So you're responsible for bogeys, both surface and in the air, and there is nothing scarier than a high-speed bogey unidentified coming at you off the coast of North Vietnam. It happened more than once. Anyway, that's what I did in the military.
Jerry Allhands:Well, you keep saying the word rate. I know in the Air Force we're not rated. We have an AFSC, so I've got to assume you were in the Navy.
Bob Buntyn:I was in the Navy, right. Just like you've got an MOS in the Marines in the Army, we have a rate in the Navy and I assumed the same thing in the Air Force.
Jerry Allhands:The AFSC. Right, yeah, I'm afraid to ask what that stands for. I came up with lots of names for that. I can't say that out loud.
Terry Adams:My wife will slap me and spank me and I'd get really happy. Yeah, about me and spank me and I'd get really happy.
Jerry Allhands:Yeah, okay, air Force Specialty Code yeah, yep, I was a security specialist, I was the Army of the Air Force back in the day. I don't know what they do now, but yeah.
Bob Buntyn:Well, today my rate is a communications, as a communications gentleman would be a crypto technician. A CT Would be the equivalent of what is in the Navy today technician.
Terry Adams:A CT would be the equivalent of what is in the Navy today. My rate today would be probably a sniper for the mafia or something.
Bob Buntyn:Witness protection program.
Jerry Allhands:The Army was kind enough to make me a paratrooper, and then whatever else they needed when they needed it.
Terry Adams:Marines are extremely good at that.
Bob Buntyn:Navy's not bad at it either I started as an 0141, which was a clerk typist.
Terry Adams:I was a Remington Raider back when we actually had Remingtons Real typewriters, yes, real typewriters. And then they handed me an M16, and it's like, where do I file that? And they said, no, you're going to use that.
Bob Buntyn:One thing has been in communications in the Navy is that all the antennas are on the mast at the top of the ship.
Bob Buntyn:They have to be cleaned, scraped and repainted. Harness underneath one of these 50-foot mast antennas that was horizontal in a full harness. In Da Nang Harbor when we came under sniper fire we went to general quarters. The three guys up there with me did not have time to unstrap me and get down off the mast so I told them to leave me. I had bullets whizzing past my ears very close, not knowing that the next one had my name on it, which obviously it didn't. But they came back up after General Quarters they got me out of the harness, brought me down to believe it or not, captain's Mass for being AWOL from General Quarters. You just got to love the military?
Terry Adams:Oh no, that was the Navy. Remember that's the Navy.
Bob Buntyn:The Marines would have asked why you didn't have your rifle with you. I was written up for being AWOL from General Quarters when I was strapped to the mask of a US Navy ship at the Nang Harbor under fire. Of course it was dismissed.
Jerry Allhands:Still in your record. There you go, there you go. Gotta love the military, whichever branch doesn't matter.
Terry Adams:It's amazing. You know you're asking about the MVLI and we are such a conglomerate group of people from all branches.
Bob Buntyn:All experiences, all the different conflicts.
Terry Adams:Yeah, all the different backgrounds and current employees.
Bob Buntyn:We have truck drivers, we have computer engineers, we have construction workers.
Terry Adams:And I've been trying to figure out for a while well, others have why I'm the president and CEO and I have to tell them the truth. I went to the bathroom during a meeting and came back and he was president. They said well, mr President, and I looked behind me and there was nobody back there and it's like what's going on. They said well, we elected you the president, and I was like oh a Marine is a president, all right.
Jerry Allhands:Man in my post. It was step out of the room.
Jerry Allhands:You come back and they hand you a mop and a broom.
Terry Adams:They say you're a commander. Not yet.
Jerry Allhands:Not yet Chief bottle washer. I don't like that one though.
Terry Adams:So MVLI was started when, just over two years ago, we started as a 501c19, a veterans organization, but we found that some people and organizations had trouble donating money to a c19 for tax purposes. So we formed the foundation to be our c3. It's our 501c3 which gave us charitable status and made us exempt on all those things, so it's helped with the donations. We work every day to do good things for the veterans, like a story I was telling earlier about a guy's passing and the chaplain from a local church called and said Terry, I need somebody I can trust because they don't have insurance. I don't want them to be gouged.
Terry Adams:Well, we have a lot of friends in different businesses and I immediately thought of a company that was helping us out all the time and that was the Memphis Funeral Homes. I called Corey and he said sure, I got you covered. You know, it's nice when you know the man, and it doesn't matter what business it is. If you know somebody that can do the job, you refer them and especially if they're veteran supporters, and, and it's just, it's amazing to be able to just go into the phone book and say, okay, here's the guy that supports us on this or here's the guy that supports us on that and make it happen.
Jerry Allhands:I like those. I like being able to know you've got a roster of people that you can reach out to.
Terry Adams:Oh, yes, yeah, and you have to have when you have so many veterans in the area. And I've been working with the veterans here in the tri-state area for 27 years, 39 years, with the American legion in several states and, uh, it's a family thing with us. Uh, you know, granddad was world war one. He started a legion post. Uh, dad was world war ii. Oldest brother was korea. Older brother myself, two younger brothers were all vietnam marines. My oldest boy was air force, my other boy is the army and now my, my grandson's, going in the navy. So it's a family tradition that we take care of each other, we take care of our veterans and we take care of their families, because the family pays a price too.
Bob Buntyn:Yeah, how would you like to uh tell us about our association with Lakeland Tennessee?
Terry Adams:we back. Just after we got chartered with the state, we had a meeting and there was only like three of us there and two guys showed up, one I knew, another marine, and the other guy was with him, I didn't know, but he was dressed a bit better than the average soldier, you know. And we sat down and he said hi, I'm adam and uh, the city of lakeland, tennessee, wants you there. And I said well, that's nice because everybody wants your veterans groups there. But I said that's nice and he says no, you don't understand, we want you there. I said okay, I said we're talking about building a veterans community center. And he said I know, and we want you to build it there. And I said, all right.
Terry Adams:So he had takes out his laptop and he opens it up and brings up a thing and he says this area here, right off the interstate, we want to get you two acres of property there. I said, okay, well, you realize we're getting started. We don't have a lot of cash. He goes no, the city wants you to get that property. The city will do this for you if you'll come to Lakeland.
Terry Adams:And so we talked and said well, you know, the location was ideal it's right off the interstate, easy access and we started holding meetings up there and joined the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber for 2024 recognized us as being the nonprofit of the year for all the things we've been doing and have done there. We pulled off a near miracle last August. I had been in the hospital for a couple months but we had scheduled the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall to come in and people say you can't do that in August, not in memphis, it's going to be too hot, nobody will show up. And we looked at the budget. Well, we didn't have a lot of money to work with, but we knew it was going to run around 40 grand by the time you house and stage and sound system and port-a-johns a whole bit. And I said well, we're going to go with it anyway. And all the good people like Bob and Jim and so many others got together and they started working on it while I was in the hospital and I couldn't even do a computer I was lucky to do phone and they picked up the ball and ran with it. I got out three weeks before the wall came in. The wall shows up with 167 motorcycles and cars and pickups and a huey escorting it in the town. And the huey landed there and people were just like in amazement because it was. It was amazing.
Terry Adams:They put the wall up and the also there were other panels with us, well, for each of the conflicts since Vietnam. And they just did the job and all I had to do was stand there and watch. I didn't have to do anything. And they said well, you're the president and CEO, you're in charge of everything, in charge of what? They've got everything covered. I don't have to do anything, I have to stand here and look pretty and I was concerned because it was hot and it was august. But you know, oh, the manager of the wall, doc, said when they were taking it down he goes. You know, this is the best one I've seen here in years. We had over 4 000 people showed up in those three days. We had security on site all the time. We had good speakers there. Bob had to step up and help out with that one when I fell out one morning.
Bob Buntyn:Yeah, I wake up in the morning and the first text message I see, terry says we had to stay on guard last night because the second shift for the volunteer sheriff's department did not show up, so mary and terry were there from a little after midnight till six in the morning. You have to have security there at the wall. So I get a text message that says uh, you're in charge goodbye, but that's the kind of people we got.
Terry Adams:He stepped right up, so I got a call from jim.
Bob Buntyn:Jim says have you seen the text message? I said, yeah, I'm on my way Now. The pastor there, dean, at First Baptist Church in Lakeland, is a fantastic person. He really is. So I told Dean, I'll get the sound system set up, I'll make the introduction, but you are now the master of ceremonies for the day. And just like that, Dean picked it up and became master of ceremonies. It really did come off well it did?
Terry Adams:I got to bed at seven. I couldn't get back up at eight and go be an emcee for an event like that, not to do it with.
Bob Buntyn:And it was packed, yeah, and do it with. And it was packed, yeah to do it properly.
Terry Adams:I couldn't do it. I knew that and it all worked out great yeah we just have so many good people that are coming on board and helping out with the things we're doing, and things like that. It just it. It makes me get those chills that, uh, there are so many good people out there that'll do it.
Bob Buntyn:And now we've got some big events coming up.
Terry Adams:Oh yes.
Bob Buntyn:Tell me about those. The spaghetti dinner I guess is starting.
Terry Adams:We've got a spaghetti dinner. Yeah, we've got a spaghetti dinner.
Bob Buntyn:Lakeland First Baptist Church sponsoring a spaghetti dinner for us.
Jerry Allhands:What's that going to benefit?
Terry Adams:That will go into our building fund too we're trying to raise. Well, the building itself looks like it's going to be about $7.2 million because it's offices. It's a coffee area where the veterans can just sit around and drink coffee and lie to each other about who's the best branch of the service, even though we know it's the Marines. Well, I thought it was the Air Force. No, no, no. You guys, we have to explain to you. Two clicks left, two clicks left, it's okay, we got a nuke yeah I know, but we do.
Jerry Allhands:We're on the ground anyway, uh.
Terry Adams:But yeah, we'll have the coffee area where they can sit around and and talk to each other and carry on. We'll have meeting rooms. We'll have uh storage areas specifically for, like, many of the groups have weapons government rifles that need to be secured. Unfortunately, a lot of them are secured at folks homes and it does meet the requirement because they're secured there, but if the person who has a weapon passes away, the spouse doesn't know what to do with them and these aren't operational weapons.
Terry Adams:These are ceremonial weapons yeah and so it would have secure areas for that and it'll have a a rather large gathering hall for events, an event room that we could use for the different events and including renting it out to help support the place, and it's about 13,000 square feet according to our latest design. And so we're constantly raising money, doing things like spaghetti dinner. Over Veterans Day we put up 100 four-foot by six-foot flags that were up for two weeks and they're again the people that stepped up. I planned four to five hours to get them up and just it was amazing If you can imagine what a hundred four-foot-by-six-foot flags looks like. These guys came in, set up four nice straight rows, eight foot apart and eight foot between each flag. They cut and drilled the PVC, they mounted the flags on the pvc, they put them on, put rebar in the ground every eight feet to put the pvc on to hold the flag up, and they did all that and we're putting the tent in the back of my truck in two hours. Wow, it was teamwork, but we're getting that kind of teamwork. When we took it down, we had gotten the city of Lakeland in as a Purple Heart City. It's now with the National Registry as a Purple Heart City.
Terry Adams:We presented the mayor with a rather large plaque about I think it's 18 by 24, and he didn't want to put it down. But we did a ceremony that day, presented that to him and took all these flags down, stored them properly, folded them and stored them them. And we did that in two hours and that ground looked like nobody had been there and that's the way it's supposed to be. And they again. I had to shake my head and go what the heck? You know that? Where have these folks been? But that's teamwork, that's the kind of teams we're getting to come in and help.
Jerry Allhands:Well now, all these people who volunteered to come out and help with this, do you think they're all veterans, or is this a mix of veterans and civilians?
Terry Adams:Both it's veterans and civilian supporters and their veterans' families. The youngest guy putting it up was that little one who was like six years old. He was out there picking up the sawed-off sections of the pvc, picking up the cutoff for him. They put the zip ties on the flags. He he's out there helping. And I mean the oldest guy out there, jim, probably 75, yeah and uh. So we we really had the gambit and they were families and when we would go out there there would be people that would park and get their picture in front of the flags. We don't know who they were.
Jerry Allhands:What kind of signage did you have in front of this?
Terry Adams:Just one sign that said thank you to the city of Lakeland and the mayor for letting us use their property.
Bob Buntyn:Then we have signs coming up to it from the different businesses that helped sponsor it. We didn't have those for the flag.
Terry Adams:Oh, at the wall.
Bob Buntyn:Oh, at the wall, I'm sorry. Yeah, at the wall, we did have, we had, thank yous for the wall.
Terry Adams:Memphis Funeral Homes was one of the major sponsors. It was a major sponsor for the wall. Who was that? Funeral Homes?
Bob Buntyn:was one of the major sponsors. It was a major sponsor for the wall. Who was that?
Terry Adams:Memphis Funeral Homes. Memphis Funeral Homes, yep, and you know. Again, I called Corey when I needed a favor. I was down at the wire and he said what do you need? And I told him and he said, okay, I'll get it. And that's the kind of things that they do.
Bob Buntyn:And.
Terry Adams:Corey is Corey. Corey Haag of the Dignity Funeral Homes in Memphis.
Jerry Allhands:Now, I'm not from this area, so help me out here. Where is Lakeland, tennessee, in relation to South Haven, mississippi?
Terry Adams:It would be like straight up 269 and get off at 40 and go west on 41 exit.
Jerry Allhands:So are we talking 30 minutes an hour From here?
Bob Buntyn:45 minutes from here, 45 minutes if you're doing the speed limit.
Terry Adams:Because it's right at exit 20,. It doesn't matter if you come down 51 and 269 around to it. It doesn't matter if you're coming in from Jackson on 40. It doesn't matter if you're coming up 55. You just turn right on 40 and take 40 east there to exit 20. If you're coming over from Creighton and County, same thing Just straight across 40, and it's 30 minutes from West Memphis.
Jerry Allhands:Okay, and this field of flags, what I'm going to call it was it seen from the highway? Was it easily seen from.
Terry Adams:No, that one was not easily seen from the highway Word kind of spread word of mouth. The day we went to take it down there was a van load of people out there getting pictures of their family in front of it and guys and motorcycles the corner of interstate 40 and canada road is a very busy intersection definitely a very large, very big intersection once you get down canada road to there by the fire station.
Bob Buntyn:That area there, yeah, it's easily seen from that area there once now, with the new one going up over memorial day.
Terry Adams:It'll be easily seen from the top of the ramp from any direction, okay which will be over by the fire station so the league building itself, mvli building, is going to be where it'll be right there at countered road 940 okay
Terry Adams:easily seen though it should be easily seen. Uh, because it'll be seen more if you're going westbound than going eastbound. Uh, we have a lot of people from out of state that call an american legion post one, because it's the first one in the book, want to know where they can stop and have a coffee and meet with other veterans, and we don't really have a place. The only place in southwest Tennessee that has a building that's open on a regular basis is VFW 7175 in Millington, because none of the rest of it. There's only two of them that have buildings and three VFWs that have buildings, but only one of them is even open on a regular basis. So this will allow people to stop, no matter what group they're with we don't care if they're, you know, purple Heart, irreverent Warriors, whatever. They want to stop and have a coffee and, you know, kill some time, relax a little bit. This will be a place to do it 13,000 square feet in size.
Jerry Allhands:I think you said yes.
Bob Buntyn:So that's going to be a pretty big-sized facility.
Terry Adams:How is?
Jerry Allhands:it going to be broke down on the inside.
Terry Adams:The four meeting rooms, one will be exclusive to veterans. Civilians won't be allowed in there, because, as a veteran yourself, you know there's times when you want to scream and we need a place. I believe in my heart that we need a place where you can go scream, cry, laugh and, if you partake down one or two, and that's your business. It doesn't need to be something where you have civilians going. What's wrong with him, what's wrong with her? Well, what's wrong with us is we get trained to do things and we never get untrained. Right, because we will never be untrained. We've seen things others will never see. We've done things others will never do, and so we are there to look out for each other, and that's where the mvli being the group of veterans rather than just one particular organization yeah, it would allow for anybody, from any organization.
Terry Adams:you know we want to stop suicide, everybody wants to stop suicide. My brother committed suicide after Vietnam. I don't like it. But if you have no place where they can go and just sit and be with others who understand, what do you do? Well, go to the VA. The VA is a good place to get treatment, but don't go sit in that lobby down there. It won't work.
Jerry Allhands:So this is going to be a private room for veterans. Only Individual shows up. How is he going to prove he's a vet?
Terry Adams:He'll have a lot of paperwork somewhere in your driver's license today. If you're a veteran, has that on it your VA card, your American Legion card, your DAV card, your Purple Heart card, your VFW card, membership cards in any organization. If they don't have it, then you get to that story about the guy that was running the bar. And this guy walked in there and goes I'm an Army vet. And the owner goes really, he said and what was your MOS? And he told him I was 11 Bravo. Bartender says okay, you're fine.
Terry Adams:Next guy walks in. He said I was in the Navy and he said okay. He says well, what did you do in the Navy? What was your rate? He says I was an MS. You know a cook. He said okay, you're good, go ahead. The guy from the Marines walked in and he just had that look and he still asked me. He said were you in the military? He goes yeah, I'm a Marine. He said what's your MOS? He said I'm a vet too. He says I was in the air force and he said, okay, you're good. And he walked on by and the other bartender goes over there and says why didn't you ask him anything? He says because nobody lies about being in the air force. I'll show myself out excuse.
Jerry Allhands:I'm going to press this button right here and see what happens.
Bob Buntyn:Stay away from the shiny red buttons. That's the eject seat button he just pushed, mercy.
Terry Adams:In helping the veterans, you have to have fun while you're doing it. Sure, you have to be dedicated. You have to be committed, and I think most of us need to be dedicated. You have to be committed, and I think most of us need to be committed.
Jerry Allhands:I was going there, then I stopped myself.
Terry Adams:Yeah, it's something where, if you have that commitment, then you will enjoy what you're doing and the people that are doing this with the MVLI. I honestly believe we all enjoy doing it. There's times when it gets a little taxing.
Bob Buntyn:Yes, I mean, terry runs from Bartlett to Olive Branch. I run from Olive Branch to Lakeland. We're running all over the Mid-South getting these things done.
Jerry Allhands:Let's pause for a moment to hear from some of the people who have helped to make this episode possible with their financial support. A very special thank you to Dean and Judy Graves of Mount Vernon, missouri, for their financial support. Dean passed away recently without ever hearing the podcast, but he believed in this project and his support helps to make each episode possible, and for that we say thank you.
Terry Adams:Possible and for that we say thank you. Hi, this is Judy Graves of Mount Vernon, missouri inviting you to listen to the next episode of the Veteran Sound Off podcast.
Nora Moreland:Hello, my name is Nora Moreland. I am a proud US Marine, the granddaughter of a World War II US Navy veteran, adelbert Shea, who served in the Pacific Theater, the wife of a combat corpsman and a mother of an active-duty Marine. I would humbly ask you to sponsor the Veterans Sound Off podcast. Each episode tells the stories of what we in the American Legion do locally and around the world. Thank you.
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Jerry Allhands:It's what they say Hard work, hard work. I'm a veteran.
Terry Adams:It does get a little taxing from time. One of our big accomplishments was what we started there post-1, our Mid-South Funeral Honors Team. We do funerals. We have the rifle team, we have the buglers. We have flag folders, we have the chaplain. Whatever they team, we have the buglers, we have flag folders, we have the chaplain. Whatever they need, we can show up and do it and we do. We've done as many as seven funerals in one day and we did those in three states, and it's what we do. We did what. Did you say? 100 last year?
Bob Buntyn:We did almost 100, yeah, 93 last year.
Jerry Allhands:We have a funeral this coming Sunday in Senatobiaobia mississippi, and, if I'm not mistaken, one of your members is at a funeral today yes, yes, well, he's at a personal funeral.
Terry Adams:Okay, this is not a military funeral uh, but yeah, it's what we do because every veteran deserves the honor and military doesn't have the funding to give that honor every time and they're barely doing well to get two people and often we get called to replace those two people.
Terry Adams:Just to do the flag, just to do the flag, the flag and taps and we find it's an honor and we started this eight, nine years ago and you know Bob has been on TV with it, on national TV. Uh, I was hiding in the shadows that day cause I didn't need to be out there being on the witness protection program at all. Yeah, Biggest sniper from the mafia.
Jerry Allhands:You know, I understand that.
Terry Adams:Yeah, yeah, you know you, you gotta kind of hide it out a little bit.
Jerry Allhands:Tell me.
Terry Adams:Uh, tell me about the ML. The ml mvli is the overall mission is, is going to be what? The? The foundation? The mission is to raise funds. The mvli we.
Terry Adams:Our motto is to honor the past, continue the journey and shape the future.
Terry Adams:Because we honor the past by doing these many things, like Memorial Day and the funerals, and we continue the journey by being out here every day and helping the veterans, and we shape the future by going out. I often end up going out to schools anything from grade schools to high schools to talk about veterans and how we do the many things we do and continue to do them, and I try to explain to these young people that you know, being a veteran, you don't have to be 80 years old to be a veteran. We have veterans who are 17 years old. The minute they go into service they become a veteran. You know, they serve one day of active duty. We consider them a veteran because they have now learned things and they're learning things every day that shape their life. And without that kind of a mission, you know they don't go in there and we learn in our boot camp and our basic training the many things that it takes to survive in life. I wish more young people would do that.
Jerry Allhands:I do too. I agree with you on that. Tell me how somebody could donate to this fund, to this endeavor.
Terry Adams:Well, don't bring cash please. Okay, jim's not here. Uh, no, we have a a web page, mvliorg, and in the top right corner is a little tab that says donate and they can do, uh, paypal, visa, mastercard, you know just about any electronic source of donations, and all donations to the MVLI are tax deductible. So, being the 501c3 charitable and we're real happy that we have people that do donate, we're always looking for a good grant writer.
Jerry Allhands:I'll take one of those.
Terry Adams:Grant writing is something that they say oh use AI. Well, ai writes the same grant for you and me and everybody else, so it doesn't stand out as being special. But yeah, grants will be the mainstay of getting this up and running. We do not want it to be a government organization, because then the government can come in and say, well, you can't do these things. No, you can't do those things. You know, our uh, our political party frowns on you doing this, so you might not want to do that, or you won't get funding next year, and it's stuff like that and we don't want any of that.
Terry Adams:We want this to be owned and operated by the veterans and the community. In talking with the city manager and the mayor, they did not realize that one of the benefits to having this building there in the case of extreme weather extreme cold when the power goes out, extreme cold when the power goes out, extreme heat when the power goes out we'll have a generator there. We'll be able to house the civilians of the area. Because it's a community center, it it's got to be set up so that people can utilize it as a community center, but focused on the veterans all All right saying that.
Jerry Allhands:I know that you've got one room that's going to be set aside for veterans only. We've discussed how we're going to approve our veteran to get into the room and what we'll do there. But the rest of the building. Let's talk about the layout there somewhat.
Terry Adams:I actually have a picture. I'm surprised I didn't give that to you A floor plan.
Jerry Allhands:A floor plan.
Terry Adams:It's set up to where it kind of resembles a Quonset hut, to give it that military look, but it's also designed so that parts of it can be shut off when not needed, so we're not having to heat it in the winter and cool it in the summer, keeping utilities down. We really have done a lot of thinking and talking about this and even now that's not in granite, that's all in sand, because if we find there's a better design or layout, then we definitely want to do that, because it's supposed to be for the veterans and we welcome veterans and their families and business people coming in and giving us an idea, a thought, what they would like to see, what they would like us to do with it, because it is about the community, it's about the veterans, it's about taking care of each other. And then Bob's just handed you a floor plan and and a sketch of the building, I think, and so it's something that I honestly believe that we can be a benefit to, not only the veterans. You know, with 100,000 veterans here, the federal government says that each veteran has roughly three family members living either with them or close by, and if we look at 100,000 veterans with three family members, you're talking that could possibly affect 400,000 people. Now I see a need there.
Terry Adams:Yeah.
Jerry Allhands:I see a very large need right now and in the future to come as well. The Quonset Hut brings back memories.
Bob Buntyn:And for those of you who are too young to remember some of that.
Jerry Allhands:Let me suggest that you go find yourself a good episode of Gomer Pyle, USMC. And that is probably the biggest example of what most of us will see of a Quonset hut.
Terry Adams:And when I was in boot camp in 68, we didn't have Quonset huts for our platoon because there were so many of us. They had us in tents. They were looking for cannon fodder, so they were just cramming them in and we had tents, wooden floors, and you know, it's the way it was.
Jerry Allhands:Yeah, as soon as I said Gilmer Powell, that series the next visual that came into my mind was Heartbreak. Ridge Clint Eastwood took over some.
Terry Adams:Must be a movie.
Bob Buntyn:It was a movie yeah, Terry doesn't watch movies.
Terry Adams:I don't do movies, I have enough problems.
Bob Buntyn:Matter of fact, we were talking the other day about a John Wayne movie that I loved it, Anyway, and, being a radio man communications, I enjoyed this because they called it an airstrike on a mountain. When it was over with, John Wayne turned to the radio and said how does it feel to have just spent a million dollars? That was in 1969. Wow.
Terry Adams:You know, our group has been able to perform some miracles, some more amazing than others. But some people say how do you do that? I don't know. You know we gather together for God and country. We're not about oh, this is Bob's show, or this is Jerry's show, or Terry's show or Jim's show. This is about taking care of each other and when you rely on each other and the good Lord leading you, I don't think you can get away from succeeding.
Bob Buntyn:I think you got a phone call yesterday from a stranded veteran in Memphis trying to get to Little Rock, Arkansas.
Terry Adams:It's every day and that's why I turned my phone off for this session, because every day these calls come in and it could be something simple, and sometimes it's. We had a guy not long ago who had they missed a paycheck for whatever reason. He had a family, five kids. He says, look, he said I just need a little help. Uh, he said can you make me a loan or a handout or something that'll help? I said, well, what's going on? He said my check didn't come in.
Terry Adams:I got to get groceries for the family and I said, well, meet me at this kroger's store. And we went in and we bought groceries and we focused on good food, not junk food, food to sustain him and the five kids for a week. And as I was getting ready to leave, I said, well, how'd you get over here? He said, well, I was going to walk because I'm almost out of gas, but I didn't think I could be here in time. I said, well, pull your car around to the gas pump there, we'll fill that up too. And so we did, because that's what we do, you know, if we don't take care of each other who's going to do it Exactly, exactly, looking out for each other.
Jerry Allhands:Tell me a little bit more about how, if somebody wants to join MVLI, can they do that? What's involved?
Terry Adams:Sure, and for guys like yourself, anybody who's in the Air Force, we have a $500,000 minimum payment.
Jerry Allhands:You do remember I said I was an enlisted grunt right, the Army of the Air Force for a minute. I protected those things that go boom in the night.
Terry Adams:No I kid about things like that, but I probably shouldn't. My wife says no, be serious about things like that, but I probably shouldn't. My wife says no, be serious when they ask that question. But to join us, come to a meeting. Our meetings are the first Thursday of each month. They're held at the International Harvester Managerial Center in Lakeland. It's an opportunity to meet the others, to voice an opinion, to see what we're doing, to find out what's happening. If you want to help, it's a chance to come out and help.
Bob Buntyn:If you can't make that, and it doesn't cost your group anything to join.
Terry Adams:That's right. Every group is welcome to send a representative, because if the whole group wants to show up, I'm in the Vietnam Vets of America and they're not talking about bringing their meeting out to us because it's the same night. They can never make it. And I told Gary I said come on, bring it on. You are all welcome there. Any veteran is welcome.
Jerry Allhands:Okay, give me again the day and time that you meet, and then give me a physical location along with the zip code.
Terry Adams:First Thursday of each month at 6 pm. It's at the International Harvester Managerial Center located at 4523 Canada Road, lakeland 48002, if you need to put it in your GPS, okay. I'm sorry, 3-8-0-0-2. Did.
Bob Buntyn:I say 4-8?. You said 4-8.
Terry Adams:3-8-0-0-2.
Bob Buntyn:Yeah.
Terry Adams:I did that once before on some business cards and all our mail went to Michigan.
Jerry Allhands:You, see, and that's why the Marines always complained about the bombs dropping short. They gave us the wrong coordinates.
Terry Adams:And then they don't hear. The Air Force doesn't hear the correction.
Jerry Allhands:That's true. Air Force doesn't hear the correction, that's true, that's true.
Terry Adams:What do you?
Jerry Allhands:say Huh, repeat, repeat oh my Lord have for sure, all right. So it's the first Thursday at 6 pm at the what?
Terry Adams:International Harvester Managerial Center. That's a mouthful. Oh yeah, IHMC is easier.
Bob Buntyn:Which was purchased by the city of Lakeland.
Terry Adams:Yeah.
Bob Buntyn:And the city of Lakeland operates the International Harvester Managerial Center, which is a beautiful park.
Terry Adams:A gorgeous facility. It really is. It's an amazing facility.
Bob Buntyn:It's an amazing facility Lakeland was lucky 4523 Canada Road, lakeland, mississippi, no Lakeland. Tennessee, lakeland Tennessee. But I know where Lakeland Mississippi, no, lakeland Tennessee, lakeland Tennessee.
Jerry Allhands:But I know where Lakeland Mississippi is.
Bob Buntyn:Oh, this is Lakeland, Tennessee that we're talking about. I know where.
Terry Adams:Lakeland. Florida is too, but I'm not driving there for a meeting.
Jerry Allhands:So we're at Lakeland, Tennessee, Lakeland. Tennessee 3-8-0-0-2 and the website for MVLI is what.
Terry Adams:MVLIorg.
Jerry Allhands:Okay, Now you told me earlier that you yourself are totally responsible for everything on this website. Is that correct?
Terry Adams:No, no, I have an executive secretary which by the way, all of us the board members and all the helpers are all volunteers. We have no employees. It's too important to look for money to do this and I know that shocks some people that know me because they see me everywhere. But no, I do this as a volunteer. Our executive secretary, Mary, does an outstanding job of keeping that web page up. She helps with our Facebook page, she helps with the web page, she coordinates things, she supports Bob being the secretary and helping him with the notes and helping Jim. You know, when money comes in, this is what account it should go to and that's the account it should go to, and so she's just. She's there all the time in the shadows.
Bob Buntyn:She's an integral part of our organization, for sure.
Terry Adams:And she represents us for the Honor Our Troops Association in Olive Branch, for the events that we do down here. She represents the MVLI. So yeah, she's an important part of it, for sure.
Jerry Allhands:And that's mvliorg. If you'd like to make donations, you'd like to know more about the organization, that would be the place to go. Yes, sir. Is there this nice outline you gave me here of the building and everything that's on the website as well?
Terry Adams:No, I don't think it is. We can get it up there though. Okay, now that you say that, make a note.
Jerry Allhands:I'm good for something today.
Terry Adams:I always thought the Air Force was. Well, how? About the Army, well, the Air Force. I was amazed that they were the only ones to ever walk into our tents and go where are the chandeliers?
Jerry Allhands:Let's see his box of crayons is getting smaller by the minute.
Bob Buntyn:You know what I'm saying.
Jerry Allhands:I'll tell you what gentlemen, I appreciate you being here so much today and I hope that we've answered, uh, at least a few questions that the audience might have about what the mvli is. And again, that's the mid. Uh, you say what is the?
Terry Adams:midouth veterans league incorporated mvli. And I tell you, jerry, thank you for having us on here. I it's always a pleasure to see you and I hope others will continue to listen to your show in the future too.
Bob Buntyn:I appreciate I didn't run them off with my stupid jokes and one more upcoming event that we didn't talk about is the chuckwagon. Oh, that's not set yet but we're working on bringing a chuckwagon into lakeland, okay and yeah, it will. You know the american legion does a big one in corinth right, something similar to that.
Terry Adams:This will be the weekend after memorial day, after Memorial Day, and the American Legion writers are doing a legacy run. They may be stopping by and we're talking about having the chuck wagon in there, so we'll have vittles for them, and oh yeah, so we like to do things first class, I mean, if you're going to do them doing upright Sure yeah, absolutely.
Jerry Allhands:You bring it up to the chuck wagon and all of a sudden I'm getting hungry.
Terry Adams:I was Indian. Joe is a big supporter of the veterans. He's out of Arkansas. He supports the Fisher House. If you know what the Fisher House is, they're home for like the Ronald McDonald House of the.
Nora Moreland:VA yes.
Terry Adams:And yeah, he's a big supporter of that raises funds for that. He wants to come in and help us raise funds for our building, so yeah, A few things going on. We're always doing something.
Jerry Allhands:There'll be an outline on the MVLIorg page.
Terry Adams:Yes, sir, there sure will as soon as we get it solid, then we're good to go. All right, come on out to the spaghetti dinner on March 22nd. Come on up and see us for a spaghetti dinner. You get a chance to Jerry. I'm talking to you now, I'm writing it down. Grab the wife and say honey, I'm taking you out to dinner. When she hears where you're going, she may Believe me.
Bob Buntyn:Lakeland Tennessee is beautiful and appropriately named. It is Lakeland Tennessee is beautiful and appropriately named. It is Lakeland Tennessee.
Terry Adams:It's gorgeous.
Jerry Allhands:up there there's a huge lake right there, absolutely gorgeous, and the dinner's going to be where, at the Lakeland, the First.
Terry Adams:Baptist Church yeah, First Baptist Church, oh no, it's a Lakeland.
Bob Buntyn:Which is right across the street from. It's the Lakeland Baptist Church. What did I? Say you said First Baptist. Oh, what did I say? You said First Baptist. It's not First Baptist, lakeland Baptist, it's the Lakeland Baptist, which is directly across the street from the managerial center, exactly. I mean directly across the street Right off of US 70.
Terry Adams:Canada Road.
Jerry Allhands:Canada Road, and that's Lakeland Tennessee not Lakeland Mississippi or Lakeland Florida.
Bob Buntyn:Correct, not Lakeland Florida, that's a long drive for some spaghetti.
Terry Adams:Yes, I've gotten people from Lakeland, florida, who said we couldn't find you and it's like because you're in the wrong state.
Jerry Allhands:There you go. So March 22nd is the Spaghetti Dinner.
Terry Adams:Fundraiser, what time 5 o'clock to 8 o'clock. All right, it's all being done by volunteers. We had people that jumped up and said, oh, we want to make the sauce.
Bob Buntyn:Really and said oh, we want to make the sauce.
Jerry Allhands:Really, do you know how much we want to make the beans? Wait, wait. I thought you said we were having a spaghetti dinner and you just said sauce.
Terry Adams:Where's the gravy Gravy on spaghetti Sure.
Jerry Allhands:You know, it's the only way the Irish eat it or do it on me.
Terry Adams:What part of the country are you from? Over yonder, over yonder.
Jerry Allhands:Over yonder from.
Terry Adams:Ovionda.
Jerry Allhands:Ovionda. With the Italians it's gravy. Okay, where's that sniper at? Jokes are getting bad folks. March 22nd, 5 to 8 pm, is a spaghetti dinner fundraiser. It is across the street from the International Harvester Managerial Center, close to 4523. It's 4600. It is 4600. The church, the church is 4600.
Terry Adams:Okay, lakeland Baptist Church. Lakeland Baptist Church, 4600, canada Road, all right.
Jerry Allhands:The zip code is 38002.
Terry Adams:Yes, all right.
Jerry Allhands:We'll get that correct here in a minute or two. All right, fundraiser, what's the cost on the dinner?
Terry Adams:$15. Okay, all you can eat. Careful now.
Jerry Allhands:Careful now Doesn't matter. I got a hollow leg when it comes to spaghetti.
Terry Adams:The church said don't worry, we're going to make it. So Yep, Okay.
Jerry Allhands:And of course you will be taking additional donations if somebody wants to, of course, yeah, well we turn those down.
Terry Adams:He does, we don't. Jim will be standing there with his hand out. But yeah, we're really looking forward to it. They did a breakfast for us when we were raising funds for the wall and they were very generous. And you know, we're not going to ask anybody to join the church. If they want to, they're welcome to. We're not going to ask anybody to join the MVLI, but they're welcome to if they want to. This is not to recruit, it's to inform, to have some fun, meet up with a bunch of veterans. It's kind of like having spaghetti with a vet.
Jerry Allhands:Well, there ought to be a lot of us there then. Yeah, I don't know if I asked this question earlier. If I did, I'll fix it, but is there a cost to join the MVLI?
Terry Adams:No, currently there is no cost. You've already paid the dues. You joined the military. You paid dues beyond belief and many paid more than just a little time in the service. They continue to pay and as a Marine, I understand that and we had discussed that and we decided no, you've paid the dues. Let's work on the donations through and funding through our pledges through grants, things like that. We don't need to have a cost because not everybody can afford it and those that have it are welcome to donate more than what they want.
Jerry Allhands:Well, guys, I appreciate you being here today. Thank you so much for letting me have this sit down with you and learn more about the MVLI and look forward to getting involved with it more in the very near future. Jerry, you're welcome anytime. Thank you, Bob. Would you please give us a closing prayer?
Bob Buntyn:Lord, thank you very much for the day, for the opportunity to let the world know what we do for the veterans that have sacrificed their time and efforts for this great nation. We ask your blessings in your name, amen.
Jerry Allhands:Thank you, appreciate it. And that was our visit with the Mid-South Veterans League located in Lakeland, tennessee. Be sure to join us next Monday morning as we return to Corinth and visit with the Legion Riders of Perry A Johns Post 6. A very special thank you to Jonathan Michael Fleming for his musical talents. You can find his CDs and videos on Facebook, instagram, amazon Music and YouTube. We hope you've enjoyed this episode and look forward to your feedback and ask that you subscribe too and share the Veterans Sound Off podcast with your friends and family. If you have a comment, suggestion or questions, or you would like to become a supporter of this podcast, please call 662-902-6658, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. This has been a production of All Hands Media LLC, with offices in Renalara, mississippi. All rights reserved.
