How the American Legion Creates a Second Home for Veterans

Episode Transcript
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Jerry Allhands (00:00):
This is the Veterans Sound Off Podcast.
Hard work, work, let's get itgoing.
Let's go, hard work, work.
I'm your host, jerry Allhands,a veteran of the US Air Force
and US Army.
I'm a past Department ofMississippi Commander of the
American Legion and apaid-up-for-life member of the
VFW.
Each week, I invite you to joinme as we visit with members of

(00:20):
our veteran families and othergroups and organizations that
support military veterans.
This week, I attended theAmerican Legion Department of
Mississippi's annual convention,held in historic Natchez,
mississippi.
It was in the NatchezConvention Center, where the
coffee was always hot and thepeople were great.
Hey, speaking of coffee, thisseries is made possible by the

(00:42):
generous gifts and sponsorshipsof people just like you.
If you'd like to sponsor an adin this series, please call
662-902-6658.
Or you can become a sponsorsimply by clicking on the
Sponsor the Show button and youcan make a donation on our page
where it says Sponsor the Show.

Joe Lysaght (01:01):
I'm banging on the barracks walls.

Get up, I'm making the call.
Today we're talking about theAmerican Legion Department
Convention, our 106th conventionhere in Natchez, Mississippi,
and I have the distinct honor ofbeing with our National Vice
Commander for the Southern Area.
Is it at the Southern Area?

It is the Southern Region Southern.
Region it's referred to as theSouthern Area.

And Commander, I'm just going to butcher your
last name, so, if you don't mind, I'll ask you to please
introduce yourself.

My name is Joe Lysak.

I could have got that.
You could have got that.
I could have got that.

Just imagine, think of it being spelled L-Y-S-I-C-K
.
Lysak, lysak.

L-Y-S-I-C-K Lysic Lysic.
But see, I did go from the AirForce to the Army.

Oh no.

Yes, all right.
And worse than that, I evenwent airborne.
So push me out every time.
I never jumped.
Definitely, sir, it is aprivilege and an honor to have
you here with us today.
I appreciate you being here inNatchez and just got to hear
your speech there in theconvention hall and I was moved

(02:10):
by it very much.
So I actually was quiteembarrassed for myself, as I'm
one of the people who has alwayspreached about having the
membership application in mypocket.
It's right here on the table.
But you said do you have it inthe room with you?
And I wasn't going to lie toyou.
And then you said lie to me, soI've got a certificate.
Sir.
Again, listen to your speechover there.

(02:32):
And I don't want to belabor thepoint, but I do want to say
thank you very much for anoutstanding speech and for the
time that you spent with us.
Would like to go over a fewthings with you if you don't
mind, and of course I would liketo start with the most
important part, and that is thatyou're an Air Force veteran.
Oh, absolutely yeah, if I canask, what did you do in the Air

(02:55):
Force?

I started off back when I was in the Air Force they
used to call it supply, but astime and everything changed it
became known as logistics andyou still had your AFSC ratings
five numbers.
But when I went to SoutheastAsia I came out of Texas Dyess

(03:16):
Air Force Base to go toSoutheast Asia.
I was in logistics, except forsix months.

Okay.
And enjoyed every day of it,except for six months.

Okay, and Enjoyed every day of it, except for six
months Air Force security policemyself back in the day.
I was pulled out we never knowhow much records somebody may
have on you and when they foundout my background in some areas,

(03:48):
then I was put into specialoperations in Southeast Asia.

We appreciate your service.
Thank you very much.
Yes, sir, how long have youbeen in the American Legion?

I joined the American Legion in 1998.
Okay, and the first meetings Iwent to were in the driveway of
a guy's house on Folly Beach,south Carolina.
Wow, in the little post we onlyhad 16 people.
Okay, and I got involvedbecause I was a veteran and

(04:18):
working with Veterans Affairs.
I saw a vehicle that I coulduse to better serve the veteran.
Tell me about the vehicle.
Yeah, you saw a vehicle that Icould use to better serve the
veteran.
Tell me about the vehicle.

Yeah, you saw a vehicle in that.

Yeah, I mean the message was clear to me that the
problem with the VA claims notgetting approved was because the
people that were trying tosubmit those claims did not know
how to submit them.
I mean, they had never served,they weren't familiar with some
of the terminology that's beingused.
It doesn't matter what branchof the service, but because,

(04:51):
like I was saying in mypresentation, veterans will talk
to veterans and you find outthings.
And so I saw an opportunity andwe were very successful in
Charleston County In the timethat I was there, almost eight
years, we had an 88% approvalrate on the first submission of

(05:14):
a claim and we I mean we trackedall that's trackable.
It's not, you don't guess aboutit, because you have to report
it.
So we, I feel like that was a.
That was a good thing.
The only problem was that thelonger I was with the Legion,
the more involved I got, themore opportunities I saw to and
to uh, contribute to the, to theorganization and make things

(05:35):
happen and plus things, and soyou get to see the look of
surprise in my face.

I was a County veteran service officer for 17
years and uh and I'm well awareof the numbers that you're
talking about it's a task Really.
You know, in addition to sayingthank you for your service as
an Air Force veteran, thank youfor your service serving our
veterans as a service officer,that's a hard job.

For me, it was a very heartfelt job you know, it
was, and I mean, you know, nojob goes without its downside,
and in the eight years I lostthree veterans to suicide.

Wow.

And I lost one while we were on the phone.
Wow.
On the phone On the phone and Ihad no idea.
I'm not a doctor, a lawyer oran Indian chief, but I had no
idea that he had reached thatpoint.
Just chit-chatting and onething or another, and he was
talking about some of the things, obstacles in his life that he
was having to deal with and Iwas trying to convince him that

(06:42):
you know, maybe professionalhelp was really the answer.
Convince him that you know,maybe professional help was
really the answer, not funnymedications and stuff like that.

Right.

And he said.
The last words he said to mewas I don't think so.

Speaker 3 (06:52):
And then there was a bang, son.

I immediately called 911.
I had his file in front of meand sent him to the address and
I found out later.
I didn't go, of course I foundout later on that he had taken
his life.

You know, that's the perfect segue for us to
talk about.
The 988 Be the One programRight For those who don't know.
To say a mental issue, but justmaybe a feeling that you need

(07:32):
to talk to somebody.
Don't wait until the very lastmoment.
You can call 988.
You can talk to one of yourblue hats on the street, talk to
another fellow veteran, butthat 988, if you dial that
number, they're going to ask youseveral questions just to
determine the best way to helpyou.
And if you say you're a veteran, then you'll press 1, and
there'll be somebody who cantalk to you, who knows what

(07:54):
you're going through.

I hope that they don't automate it too much,
because older veterans more sothan the younger ones.
But older veterans have aproblem with you know.
If you know the balance on thisaccount, press 1.
If you don't, press 2.
If you don't want to hear it,press 3.
I mean, you know, the pharmacyis getting kind of complicated

(08:17):
with all that now.
I mean I think simplicity isgood.
I don't think it's a way oflife, but I think it's good and
I think in certain areas likepharmacy or to be the one, I
mean, you know, past NationalCommander Seehofer made the
statement very clear.
You know, if you can change alife, you can save a life, and

(08:41):
that's what be the one is allabout.
You know you don't need toanalyze and try to figure out
what's going on.
Somebody's got a problem.
The first thing you want to dois listen and make sure you
understand where they're at andthen you just offer your help To
me.
That's why the Buddy Checkprogram is so good, because you
can call somebody on Buddy Checkand simply say how are you

(09:04):
doing?
We're just checking on you.
Bob has a family.
You're not there to recruitthem.
And if they say everything'sgood and everything, that's
great, man, you'll get a chanceto come on by the post.
You know you should work withinyour post element.
If they say, well, you know,money's a little tight right now
and everything like that, andsay, boy, I understand that,
tell the truth.
See, that's the thing I justtold that lady is tell the truth

(09:27):
.
I mean it's tough for everybody.
You know, I don't care how muchmoney you got, it's tough for
everybody.
So tell the truth.
They don't want to hear pie inthe sky.
And I want to believe that in myeight years that there may have
been one or two or three orfour.
I don't know my eight years,that there may have been one or
two, that or three or four, Idon't know but, who had

(09:48):
reservations about taking theirlife and through the
conversation of.
Well, you know, if you'rethinking about doing anything
too serious, let me just saythis uh, you might want to give
some consideration up to yourwife and your children because,
they have to live with that forthe rest of their life,
definitely.
Which leads me into anotherpoint, and that is we're

(10:09):
counting veterans that taketheir life.
We count those.
We're not counting the spousesRight, and they also take their
life.
They can't live without.
And so, all of a sudden, now heor she comes back, they're not
the same person.
The deck's been shuffled and heor she takes their life, and

(10:33):
within a matter of 24 hours, theothers will take theirs.

That's true, because so often we don't think
about the residual effects ofthat.
Yeah, wow, 988 again.
If you're, you're feel like youhave an issue.
Uh, and the the good thing asfar as I know, still knows that
with the 988 number, um, you'renot put into a?
Uh, a file someplace, you knowit's, it's confidential.

(11:01):
You, it's confidential, it'spersonal.
And a good friend of mine usedthe number years ago for a
family member and you know theyfollowed up several times.
I mean there were phone callsmade back to him to check on him
, you know, to make sure he wasokay.

Those systems are good.
Don't misunderstand me.
They're good and we have tohave something like that,
because you can walk pastsomebody on the street and never
know that while they're walkingpast you, they're thinking
about taking their life.
I mean you just you don't knowthey can be in a church choir
with you and you don't know.
You know, I mean, it's just so.
It's good to have that, thatopportunity to make some type of

(11:40):
awareness happen between youand the person on the phone as
to what's going on and stufflike that and encourage them to
get some help, and I use theword encourage because you don't
want to try to sell them orpersuade them on getting help,
because then you sound like toomuch of a medical person.
Right and you don't want to bethat medical person.

Speaker 3 (12:02):
You want to be that medical person you want to be
that buddy, that friend.
Be willing to show up for aveteran.
Be willing to stick your nosewhere it doesn't belong hey, be

(12:27):
willing to push and prod ifthings don't add up.
Be willing to trust your gut,follow your heart and take a
risk.
Be willing to sit withoutsaying a word, without checking
the time without trying to solve.

Sometimes, suicide wants to rip a person from this
world.

Speaker 3 (12:37):
Be willing to grab with both hands and hold on to a
friend, a spouse, a daughter, ason.
Be the one who's willing to ask, to guess wrong, to even offend
another, to keep them safe, toremind them that they are
valuable.
If you know a veteran, be theone to reach out and make them a

(13:02):
part of your life.

I made a pledge and I made it years ago when it
first came out and I pretty muchstayed with it pretty close, at
least every working day.
I will make one buddy checkcall.
Now some people I've talked toa dozen times maybe.

(13:27):
Sometimes I get on a roll.
I'll be sitting in my study athome and I'll be thinking about
different people and I may havetalked to that person a week ago
.
I just call them up and say hey, bubba, what's going on?
Man, hey, what's happening?
Did you ever get thatrefrigerator you were talking
about?
Or etc.
To me.
I do it with the hope that Ican instill a value within them

(13:51):
when they think, instead of justsaying, hey, what's going on?
How you doing?

Speaker 3 (13:55):
okay, fine, thanks, click, yeah hang the phone up,
you know I, I generate aconversation.

Not everybody can do that, unfortunately, because
sometimes the people that you'reasking to make the buddy check
they have problems and you maynot be aware of those problems.

No, you know I wanted to apologize.
You saw me just glance at myphone but as we were talking
about this, I'm aware of twopeople that I'm conscious of who
have an issue right now andwe've all agreed to pay
attention.
So I see my phone flash and Irecognize the number and I'm
like I kind of got a chill therefor a second going, please, you
know, and they were just likehey, I'm okay you know, this is
like okay, I can put the phone,you know, and I apologize for no

(14:36):
.
No, that's fine with theconscious decision of a buddy
check, you know you you said youdo it at least once a day.
I'm old school buddy check, youknow it's kind of the.
It's like Air Force SecurityPolice, army 82nd Airborne you
get you know, buddy check.

(14:56):
Come on, you know where's the?
macho in that I've gotten to thepoint to where I say, buddy,
check in my head, checking on mybuddy, checking on my friend.
You know, whatever it takes fora person to reach out to
somebody else and just you know,give that call or drive by the
house and stop and visit withthem.
I like what you said earlierabout coming to a you know

(15:17):
making that phone call and hey,you know, come share a beer with
me or share a Coke with me, youknow, yep.

And the term buddy check.
I mean I think I don't know whonamed it.
It's like so many things, weget all kind of different names,
but sometimes they're not evenbut the term buddy check.
If you think about it logically, buddy check buddy meaning
somebody you know is a buddy, afriend of yours.
Okay, well, that's not reallythe program.

(15:44):
It is to imply that you'rechecking on buddies, okay.
So, yeah, you're right.
I mean, when I call, I callbecause I want to hear the
person that I'm talking to onthe other end and I want to make
sure that they know thatthere's somebody out there that
cares.
And in the state of SouthCarolina, in the I'm, I'm very

(16:04):
well known, obviously, uh, butuh.
But you know, the thing of itis is is, when I call them, I
mean, uh, the conversationimmediately lightens up
surprisingly.
Uh, I would never record onebut if I could?
you would hear something likehey, commander, what you calling
me for?
You know, I'm trying to get youto sign up for another year in

(16:26):
the American Legion or somethinglike this you know off the wall
stuff and a giggling laugh andcarrying on, but I don't know
that there would be a propername that could be associated
with making that.
I care.
Phone call, yes, you know, Itruly care, and I've had people
say what are you calling me for?
You know, I don't go to thepost, I pay my dues.

(16:48):
Though.
I pay my dues.
Yeah, you do, and that's greatand I appreciate your membership
.
I appreciate it, because itmakes a difference when we go to
Washington DC and argue forrights and entitlements and so
forth, for rights andentailments and so forth.
But I'm calling because I'mconcerned.
I want to make sure you're okayand if you're not, then I want

(17:11):
to know why.
I want to know what I can do tohelp you.
You know, and then I put some.
You know, humor is atremendously powerful tool if
it's used correctly.

Speaker 3 (17:20):
I believe, okay.

And I would say something like that, you know,
and I'd say but now listen, thatdoesn't mean I'm going to come
cut your grass, okay, and Ican't help you.
Paint that back bedroom youknow, and so you get people
loose okay.

Yeah.

But I think it's I often have thoughts of.
Sometimes when I'm driving bymyself, my mind works as my wife
says you've got too, saysyou're flipping over too many
cards.
But I wonder, you know, whenyou get a call like that, hey,
buddy, I'll just give you a calland see how you and the family
is doing.
I hadn't seen you around thepost, I hadn't seen you in the

(17:56):
neighborhood or whatever.
I mean, I have veterans livearound me and stuff like that,
and so they don't alibi out.
They don't say well, you know,I've been sick Now sometimes
they'll tell you that, but youknow they don't alibi out.
But that's a very, very strongprogram.
I think it's a very, verypositive, producing program,

(18:18):
because the one thing that youcan't measure in that program is
your success, Right.

Only thing you can measure is your failure.

As you just said, yeah.

Speaker 3 (18:30):
One or two.

Wow, you know the buddy check.
The way that you're describingit now is it could be a social
call.
You know, hey, like you said,just call and check on.
You Hadn't heard from you in awhile, mishearing your voice.

You know, even though you were a Marine, I, you
know, yeah, that's right, youknow if you know the guys I mean
and I call people that I know,people that I've been with,
associated with, had dinner with, had whatever you know, had a
beer at the post or somethinglike that and you know.
And they'll say you know, guys,so why are you calling me?

(19:04):
Really?
I said, okay, I got thiscampaign, I want to run, I want
to buy Girl Scout cookies foreverybody at the post and I need
some money.
So, and they go and they'll saysomething really rude, rude,
socially unacceptable, you know.
But then we bust out laughingor something like that.

you know but that's the one great thing about
veterans is we can give eachother the hardest time to still
come across for each other.

Absolutely, absolutely.

It's like family when you were in the military
we form a bond and you all watcheach other.
That's the same with AmericanLegion.
Every time I come here, I meetsomebody different.
I found the Legion to bewelcoming from the time I walked
in the door.
You need something.
That guy over there is the guy.
That guy's an electrician.
That guy's a plumber.
Oh, you've been having troubleswith the VA.
That guy knows a good VSO.

Speaker 3 (19:54):
It's been fun.
I mean we do a lot of stuff forthe community, we do a lot of
support, we give out a lot ofmoney.
I we go out and do volunteerwork when we can.
We do Memorial Day ceremonies.
The people that are involvedare passionate about helping
veterans, helping their familiesand their communities.
I don't have family that livesin Anchorage but the Legion is
my family.

What better way to meet people when you're new
to an area and also meet peoplewho have a shared experience
with you?

Speaker 3 (20:20):
I think it's an incredible organization and I'm
proud to be a member of it andand honored and happy because it
really serves my joy to be hereThanksgiving and Christmas and
doing walks I think it's a bigimpact Picnics in the summertime
.
Fourth of July Memorial.

Day, it's more family-orientated now.

Speaker 3 (20:38):
It may sound cheesy, but I feel like it's a place to
belong.

I enjoy the company, I enjoy the mentorship
that I get here.
Searching for that brotherhoodand I found it here in the
Legion and it gives me a senseof security.

Speaker 3 (20:53):
That brotherhood can't be replaced anywhere else.

There's a respect and there's an
understanding that we are agroup of people that are here
for the community for ourveterans and for their families.

Speaker 3 (21:05):
If I want to come and get some peace and quiet.
Oddly enough, it's at theLegion.
I'd say that for many others,it's given a fantastic face to
this organization.

I learned some very valuable information about
what family means to veteransand to each other.
I feel accepted and people wantto know what's going on.
I want to know what's going onwith them.
You feel like you're part of afamily, part of a community.

And it's really awesome For more information on
joining the American Legion goto legionorg, forward, slash,
join or call 601-352-4986.

Again, that's 601 3-5-2-4-9-8-6.
Commander, thinking about theAmerican Legion and the numbers
of our nationwide membership,when you're recruiting a new
member and a guy says to you, Ijust don't have time to be
involved, I like the line yousaid earlier it's a matter of

(22:15):
hey, you can be too busy, butyour numbers count.
When we go to Washington DCYou've got a guy walks in the
door here with an Army hat on.
What would you say to him aboutjoining the Legion?

I would tell him.
First, I would acknowledge thefact that you know he served the
country and thank him for hisservice, and then I may, if he's
not a Legionnaire, then I maysay at some point after a little
bit of cordial remarks, youknow, I'd say again so you must

(22:49):
belong to a service organizationand that opens the door,
because most people they don'tknow what that is unless they do
.
If they belong to one then theycan say yes, I belong to the
American Legion, I belong to VFW, I belong to DAV.
I mean say, yes, I belong tothe American Legion, I belong to
VFW, I belong to DAV.

I mean, that's the big boys on the block.

And if they don't say American Legion, then that
still gives you an opportunity.
You're not out of the woods,Because then I turn and say well
, man, you ought to join mebecause I belong to all three of
them.
I'm getting full coverage onthis thing.
So you know as long three ofthem I'm getting full coverage
on this thing.
As long as you can keep itmoving, keep it churned, keep it
going, that's the thing I wouldtry to make them.

(23:30):
Sit down with them to chit-chata little bit.
Do you have a family?
Are you married?

Speaker 3 (23:37):
You are.

Okay, well, children.
You can tell if a guy's got alittle bit of age, or if he
doesn't, I mean, you know, hedoesn't have to have all the
gray hair you and I have.

Speaker 3 (23:50):
They know we got some miles.

But you know you got to feel it out a little bit.
You know you got to.
That's why it's so difficultfor us to teach membership
procedures.
I mean, we write volumes ofpages of how to recruit and what
to do, all this kind of stuff,when the bottom line is simply
what can you do for?
me and why should I join?

(24:12):
We're looking for the value forthe buck.
Just be honest.
We are Now.
Some people will join theAmerican Legion because they get
to go to posts that havecanteens and they can get adult
beverages cheaper.
You know they can have themeals cheaper and stuff like
that.
Some go just for the meals.
My post serves over 200 atlunch on every Friday.

(24:38):
Wow, now that's in-post eatingright by and pick it up, or
deliveries.
Wow, now that's in post-eatingright by and pick it up, or
deliveries.
Wow, yeah, and it's SeafoodFriday.
That's what we call it SeafoodFriday.
People call and they say I needto get oysters and shrimp, or I
need to get oysters, shrimp andflounder.

Well, I need to come to South Carolina.

And hush puppies and that kind of stuff and
they're fine.
And if it's a call-in order,credit card, come on now make it
easy.
And come around to the backdoor you drive around.
There'd be somebody standingthere.
You can't auxiliary lady mostof the time they'd be standing
there and you'd give them thenumber.
There it is, Bye, Thanks.

(25:24):
But a lot of people come andjust take like Sunday mornings.
We probably serve 75 to 100breakfasts every Sunday.
And we get them in and out sothey got time to go to church.
Wow, that's amazing.
But you know, it's just.
I tell everybody membership isnot just membership, right, and

(25:46):
it's not just retention okay.
Membership is a project thatrequires continued effort.
We do an aged egg hunt?
Yeah, okay, we do two.
Three to eight, all right Years?
Okay, we do two.

Three to eight, all right Years of age, mm-hmm.

And then nine to 14 .
Okay, all right Now given those, and we separate a field so
that all the three-year-olds andfour-year-olds find it.
They each have their own littlesquare to work in Plastic eggs.
Nothing serious, okay, someadults are around to make sure
and nobody can get in.
You know, if you're three yearsold, you're going to have a

(26:27):
green band or whatever color.
We're using it for that okay,and if you're older, you're
going to have maybe a black bandor something, okay, and we have
people, volunteers, there tomake sure that kids are okay.
Wow, everybody wins.
Everybody wins something.
Thank God for Dollar Tree and.

Speaker 3 (26:47):
Dollar General and places like that.
Yeah, I mean really, buteverybody wins something and
they love it.
They love it, you know.

But guess what, in the state of South Carolina, if
you're under the age of 15, youcan't drive, you can't drive a
car.
So how do these people getthere?
Mom and Daddy have to bringthem.
Hello, what a great opportunityto introduce yourself to
someone and say, yeah, how y'alldoing?
Do you get to come often andstuff like that.

(27:15):
Do you also know that we haveoyster roasts and we have
barbecue cook-offs and we havespaghetti dinners and boom, boom
, boom, boom, boom.
Okay, great, that's a safeenvironment too.
Yeah, and somehow, withoutscaring people, you let them
know, like you know, if you andyour husband and the children
want to come on a Friday night.

(27:35):
Yes, there's going to be adultbeverages.
Yes, there are.
I'm not going to tell you it'snot, but I'm going to tell you
it's controlled because therewill be two or three members of
the department executivecommittee excuse me of the post
executive committee, you knowand we do we volunteer Wow so.
I mean you do it and then youhave to.

(27:59):
You know, your biggest posthere is also a big revenue
getter for Bingo.

Right, but it's controlled.

Oh, I listened, I heard.

I heard.

Speaker 3 (28:09):
I heard Okay.

But I mean, that's the kind of vehicle you want to
be running around in your postthat.
Because from that Christmasparty, sure, we don't do
anything special.
We have, within the samefootprint as the post, we have a
banquet hall.
That we rent out and stuff likethat.
But at Christmas time Santacomes.

Oh, there you go .

Now you can come into the hall and leave the hall
without even going into thecanteen.

Wow, that's important Very important.

So we get a couple of the girls and put them in
little elf uniforms or somethinglike that, and Santa's sitting
back there and everybody whocomes brings their children.
They get a picture taken andthey can take their pictures, or
we'll take a picture for them,and then they get a little toy
or something like that.

But you get to talk to Santa.

That's the key to let them talk to Santa.

There's a reason I grew this beard.
There you go.
That's also a great time totalk to the families about the
Sons of the American Legion, theauxiliary.
Yes, sir, I keep telling folksaround here I do accept
donations.
I've been trying to get thatHarley Davidson for 20 years now
.
A couple of years back somebodygave me a miniature toy you got
to love it.

(29:26):
Not enough CCs on that littleone.
Well, commander, you know wewere talking about recruiting
efforts and retention and youhad some great ideas there.
I really liked the egg rolls.
I just totally never thoughtabout that one, but that's
something that we're going to bebringing up in my district
coming up in the future.
As far as, is there a downsideto being in the American Legion?

The only downside and I don't consider it a
downside, but the multitudes inmany cases consider it, I think,
a downside and that's theenormous amount of solicitation
you get and that's the enormousamount of solicitation you get,
and I understand.
I mean we get revenue forcertain things.

(30:07):
I mean one of the greatest onesthat we have, and it's poorly
used or taken, is the insurance.

Legion Insurance Trust.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, I was about to say LIT.

Yeah, I use.
I've got everything they offerand trust me, having had to use
it a couple of times, I'm verygrateful for it.

Well, not only that , but you've got $5,000 worth of
death insurance, no questionsasked.
All you've got to do is die andthen you get $1,000.
If you're in an accident andyou have some, you know.
But accident and you have some,you know.
But the key is, if you're onlegion business, so anybody in
the american legion.
And it's free, it doesn't costyou a dime.
The hardest thing you have todo is fill out a little form and
mail it in, that's it.
But if you're smart, I'm notsaying that this is what you

(30:52):
need to do.
I'm saying if you're smart, Iquote if you're smart, just keep
your cover in the glove boxalways do, and that in the
membership form.

Yep Always got them with me.
Matter of fact, you were sayingthat and on the drive down here
I live in the North Delta, I'mriding down, I'm with a friend
of mine, I thought you know, Ineed a reminder.
I took a picture of mymembership card and said hey,
just in case, I'm on officialLegion business and I forwarded
it to my post commander, I'm onbusiness now okay.

(31:23):
I did tell my coroner in mycounty.

When I passed away it was an accident.

I don't plan on dying on purpose.

But yeah, that's, it's just things like that.
I mean the programs that theAmerican Legion has.
There's really no downside toany of it, it's all good.
I mean it really is, and I'mnot saying it because I'm at
this particular level in theLegion.
I mean, you know, there's norank in the Legion.
As you well know, I tell peopleall the time there's no such

(31:57):
thing as rank.
There are levels ofaccountability and
responsibility.
Okay, that's what we have, yeah, so, but uh, yeah, I, I think
it.
Um, and I jokingly say thatbecause, quite frankly, some of
some of the advertisements, someof the solicitations I've, I've
jumped on them.

(32:17):
Yeah, I thought they were good.
It's something I really wantedto get into or something I
wanted to learn more about, orsomething like that.
It's like the magazine.
A lot of money and time goesinto that and the stories and
everything.
I'm trying to think of thegentleman's name, a really nice
guy that heads that up.
Recently I was in Indianapolisand just happened to talk to him

(32:43):
and I told him I said, you know, I would just like to see more
stories about legionnaires.
I got a post in Maggot, southCarolina.
They have gone back now andthey found all of these tombsate
graves and slaveries and theybrought in this guy I don't know

(33:04):
what you'd call him he got abig, long name for it but he's
like a man with all theknowledge when it comes to
tombstones and doing theresearch and everything he
volunteered his time.
They've done like over 1,400 ofthem.
They've identified them,they've cleaned them off.
I mean the whole cemetery area.
Sometimes it's just a familyplot of maybe six or seven or
eight tombs, you know, and stufflike that, and I mean, but the

(33:27):
thing of it is these arelegionnaires, yeah, and this
post is doing it.
I don't know about everylegionnaire I mean we've got a
million or so of them runningaround the world but I would say
that I enjoy reading somethinglike that.

(33:52):
I enjoy you know it instills thevalue.
I have to become greater andappreciative of what the
American Legion is doing forthis country.
I don't know, and I waschairman of the Board board of
Salvation Army in Charleston forsix years.
Wow, you can tell by my resume.

Speaker 3 (34:07):
I mean, I've done a lot.

And I can't say no and my wife says one of these
days I said I know I'll have to,but you know, the American
Legion is that way.
I mean, they're not going tosay no.
Nef, national Emergency Fund,my God, you know, name me

(34:30):
another organization that has afund like that and has the money
to do what they do.
They just don't help one person.
That's not a one-person, orwhat is it?
They say one-trick pony.

Speaker 3 (34:42):
It's not that way.

I mean, you know, thousands of dollars go out,
thousands of dollars go out overeducation, thousands of dollars
goes out for God knows what Imean, but I was at one of the
departments.
I'm trying to remember where itwas at.
It might have been Florida I wastalking about money and so

(35:03):
forth like that, and I haveinformation.
I get information on a lot ofthis stuff, right, and I started
reading off these numbers.
The guy said where'd they getall that money, meaning, where
did the American Legion get it?
Where'd they get it from you?

Yeah.

You want to know what your dues.
What do you think you pay yourdues?
What know what you do?
What do you think you pay yourdues?
What do you think happens?
Do you think we just put it inthe bank and figure out a way to
spend it?
No, it goes into differentaccounts that benefit the
community, the state, the nationand, for God, the American
Legion benefits their veterans.
You know, and so it's.

For me, I would encourage every veteran to join
the American Legion, whetherthey can be actively involved or
just be a member.

I tell people too.
You talk about recruitingpeople.
You know guys said, well, Iwouldn't mind joining, but you
know I'm working now and I gotthis to worry about.
I understand, I reallyunderstand that.
Okay, but what if I told youthat you can join the Legion now
and start building yourcredibility and building your
years and your retention and youdon't have to come to a meeting

(36:03):
, Right?
And then I say, look, you know?
I mean, what do you want me totell you?
Oh, we want your money.
No, we want you, but we wantyou now.
We want to get you in.
Let us start sending you somestuff.
You don't have to come tomeetings.
We want you at meetings.
Of course we do, but we'regoing to send you valuable
information, okay, yeah, we'regoing to check on you are you?

(36:24):
see, we're going to give you acall.
You're going to hear from me inanother six weeks or so.
You know I'm gonna make sureeverything's going good.
And, by the way, did you knowif you had boom, boom, boom just
list of different things?
Uh, I proved a point some yearsago.
I was told that I could not doit.
Um, I was a district commanderand there was a young man that

(36:47):
was, uh, I think he argued hewould argue that jesus christ
couldn't walk on water.
Okay, yeah, that's good.
Just put it simple terms yessir.
I told him.
I said I can get 50, I canrecruit 50 people.
It never happened.
I said okay.

Speaker 3 (37:04):
At the end of the membership year I had recruited
52.

And I have a gold brigade patch for that.
He had the nerve to tell me infront of the post you just got
lucky.
You couldn't, you know.
And I said okay.
So I said I'll tell you whatI'm going to do.
I'm going to do it one moretime just to show you it wasn't
luck.
And then I challenge you to goout and just bring me 25 people,
because I know you're not goodenough to bring 50 well the next

(37:34):
year I did get another 50, so Ihad over 100 people and you
know, and that's.
I'm not bragging, I'm justsaying I used a.

You're not going to get it if you don't ask.

Nobody's ever came up to me Since 1998, no person
has ever come up to me and saidI want to join the American
Legion, or you're in theAmerican Legion, I want to join
the American Legion, or I wantto get one of those hats I'm
going to join.
Nobody has done that, nobody.

A funny story for me, a past national
commander who was a little guy.
He was a ranger Helms, I thinkit was about five, ten years ago
.
I'm escorting him around thestate and we were having this
conversation about recruiting.
I get out to fill the car upwith gas.
I'm talking to a vet, he comesaround and steals him out from

(38:27):
underneath me, recruits himwhile I'm there talking with him
.
Now how am I supposed to getmad about that?
You know I love those stories,sir.
I really appreciate you.
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
We've talked about your wife,but I've not heard her name.
Can we give her credit?

My wife's name is Letha Ann Maiden name was
Prevatt.
She's from Hamlet, northCarolina, and this is going to
sound real bad okay.
But in my eyes that's the mostbeautiful woman in the world

(39:03):
both inside and out.
Yes, sir, Her family iseverything you know, for her.
I mean, I talk to her two orthree times a day when I'm on
the road and she's always sayingthings like did you eat
breakfast?
Did you do this?
The children call her almostevery day.

(39:26):
Wow and just chatting with herand stuff like that, the ones
that are close.
We have none of them that livein the state of South Carolina.
So after the nationalconvention we're going to come
back home, but then we'regetting in the car and we're
driving back down to Florida tosee some grandchildren.
She's just Letha finds good inthe smallest, tiniest little

(39:49):
crack in something.

You're a blessed man.

Oh yeah, yeah, I got to say something, and don't
take this to be, I'm not jumpingoff the building, but I hope
that the good Lord will write myname in the Lamb's Book of Life
before he writes hers.

Yes, sir.

I'm a grown man.
I served in Vietnam.
I've been very successful inbusiness.
I've owned businesses.
I've sold businesses.
God gifted me with the abilityto be able to talk in public and
stuff of that nature, and giveme the levity of conversation

(40:34):
that sparks a grin, but I don'tknow what I'd do without her.

Well, you are a blessed man and I want to thank
you for sharing her with us, andI want to thank her for sharing
you with us.

She does that?
Yes, sir.

Let's pause for a moment to hear from some of
the people who have made thisseries possible.

Speaker 3 (40:54):
You can join in the mission to remember our fallen
heroes, honor those whocurrently serve and their
families, and teach youngergenerations about the value of
freedom.
A $17 donation to WreathsAcross America sponsors a fresh
balsam remembrance wreath.
These wreaths have become asymbol of America's American

(41:21):
Legion Convention in.

Natchez Mississippi to our visit with
the Department of Mississippi'sAmerican Legion Convention in
Natchez Mississippi.
It's been a wonderful day atthe mid, almost mid-winter at
the Department Convention forthe American Legion Department
of Mississippi and ViceCommander, it is such an honor
to be here with you.
I enjoyed our visit yesterday.

(41:46):
I'd like to know what yourthoughts are on our convention,
your convention was run verywell.

It really was.
I'd like to know what yourthoughts are on our convention.
Your convention was run verywell, it really was.
I mean, you know, purpose is nogood without a good plan, and
I'm sure the purpose of theconvention was to inform and
educate, have a good time, youknow, and Lord knows, we got to
eat and it was obvious that youhad a really good plan and I

(42:11):
wish I could tell you every timeI went into a post or
especially a department, therewere no hiccups.
But even when you had a littlehiccup here and there, you kept
rolling with it.
And to me that's part of theplan, because you've got to say
look, I hope we don't have anyproblems, but if we do, we've
got plan B.

Or we've got plan C, or something.

Speaker 3 (42:31):
Now, I've enjoyed it, I mean.

I really did.
I think I enjoyed most of allthe response that I got back
from the people you know you saysomething that you think is
humorous, but then for everybodyelse to agree with that makes
you feel 100% better.

Kind of bad to give a.
It makes you feel bad when yougive a really good joke and you
get no response from it.

That's it, but no, I've really enjoyed it.
I'm heading out tomorrow.
I think my flight leaves around2.
I'll have a little time in themorning.

Where are you flying out of?

I'll fly out of here to Atlanta.

Okay, going out of Jackson, or yeah, okay, and
then from Atlanta to Charleston.
You know, yesterday we had theopportunity to visit and talk a
little bit about your pastservice and your history and I
wanted to reflect back with you.
You said all but six months ofyour service was enjoyable and

(43:32):
if you're willing to talk, aboutit.

Uh, yeah, I I can't tell you a lot about it.
Uh, I probably could becauseit's been so many years, but I'm
I will err on the side ofcaution by not doing it.
But back then, um, and severalof us were selected, I guess
would be a good word to reportto a detachment of guys in the.

(43:58):
I call them the guy.

Speaker 3 (44:00):
I don't know what you call them but it was black ops.

It was guys in the black pants with a white shirt
and a black wall cap.
And there was no rank and theydidn't have a whole lot of
conversations with you.
In fact, our quarters wereseparate from theirs, um and uh.
But uh, we were, I guess, jerry.
I guess we were the grunts, ifyou will.

(44:24):
I don't know you know, but notreally because we, they, they
had people.
I was in logistics, so I hadthat capability, and so when we
were going for briefings andwhat we were going to be doing
and things of that nature, wehad a couple of people that were
demolition experts.
I mean, you know, they couldmake something the size of a

(44:47):
matchstick or something as bigas a football.
It didn't matter, you know,depending on what they wanted to
do.
And I grew up a lot, but Ibrought home a lot of that, and
so I had to live through that.
It took a few years, it's noteasy and I know the veterans

(45:08):
that have come after me and beenin combat.
They all go through the stuff.
They go through it.
Sure, Nobody is a Coca-Colacowboy.

Yeah.

We just can't do it .
We talk like we can, you knowbig bad, rub them uh-uh.
Yeah.
But I did have a situationwhere I had three targets and I
took them out.
It was just a reaction, but oneof them was a kid and that kind

(45:38):
of hurt me more than anythingelse, because I've always been
active in scouting.
I've been a scoutmaster.
I've been active in YMCA, youknow, teaching, going down there
for the summer camp and whenthey wanted volunteers and stuff
like that and working with kidsand I just love kids.
You know my wife always tellsme you're going to get in
trouble because I see a littlekid or something.
Hey, darling, how are you?

Speaker 3 (46:00):
And they start laughing and stuff like that and
people look at me like he mustbe crazy.

But you know that's to me a child is the most
precious gift.
Yeah, to me a child is the mostprecious gift.

Yeah.

The most innocent of us, our children.
But you know I think thatprobably played into me being in
the Legion.
But, like I mentioned to youearlier when we were talking, is
that you know I saw anopportunity in the American
Legion to do more for veterans.
And I did I took an opportunityin the American Legion to do

(46:35):
more for veterans and I did.
I took that opportunity and ofcourse, I never envisioned that
I would be at the level I'm atnow in the American Legion.
I'm one of five National ViceCommanders in the world and 1.6
million Legionnaires.
I mean that's pretty wild and Ijoke talking with some of the
guys here, I knew, and it workedwith them and I said, yeah,

(46:56):
it's amazing.

I said you know, they all know me, but but I
don't know they it's amazing howmany people walk up to you and
engage in a conversation and,like you've known you forever
and you've got got to you know.
Make that connection.

But you know, over the years and not just with this
position, but over the yearsthe one thing I've heard is
people would say you know youreally are a people person.
You are a people person becausepeople walk up to you, people
speak to you, people shake hands.
You hug people, you cut foodwith them, people like to be

(47:34):
around you.
You know, and I, and I'mthinking well, I'm, that's all,
I, that's the way I am, you know.
But uh, uh, that's probably thenext to marrying the most
beautiful woman in the world.
Okay, and, and why she chose meis, Ooh, I don't know.
I'm just glad she did, butthat's probably the second best

(47:54):
compliment I think I've everreceived, really and truly.
And you've heard my resume.
I mean, if you saw my prominentlegionnaire file in Indianapolis
, I mean I got a lot of awards,a lot of certificates, a lot of
plaques and stuff like that, andI appreciate them and I'm very

(48:15):
grateful and I thank people forit.
But you know you shake my hand,look me in the face and say
listen, I enjoyed having youhere, I enjoyed seeing you and
you know you can come back anytime you need a place to stay.
That guy was talking to me atthe end yeah, he was in the Navy
and he said if you get backthis way now, just give me a
call.
He said you know, I got aplanning room at the house and

(48:39):
I'm thinking I don't believe I'mgetting back this way, but you
know yeah, and they don't know.
A lot of people don't know thatthis is a one-year tour in this
position.
Yeah, tour, okay on this inthis position.
Yeah, and so you get somebodynew next time.
And they the ones that foundout and knew about it.
They said we don't know whothat guy's gonna be, but he's
got a rough road to go followingyou, and that's true, that's

(49:03):
true.

We've enjoyed having you as our vice commander
for the south and it's apleasure.
You know it's uh, there's a lotof folks that we get to meet a
lot of folks that we get to meetand a lot of folks that we go
hmm, you're one of those ones wego.
We're just glad to see you.

You know I mean I was teasing the guys in
Tennessee about spaghetti.

Speaker 3 (49:20):
I mean I get on a plane.

They said well, you got to come back now.
Bring your wife, come back,come on, go to Nashville, do
what you want to do, stuff likethat, you know, call us, we'll
take care of you.
Boom, boom, boom, boom.
And I said no, I'm not.
And he said why?
I said because I've had enoughspaghetti.
I said that's not even the dishin Tennessee, okay.

Speaker 3 (49:38):
And they laughed.
They said, no, that's theAmerican Legion dish.

I said I can't argue that, but I'll see
everybody at the NationalConvention, not only this one
but hopefully the next one, youknow, and stuff like that, and
you get to see people, I'll seeyou in Indy.

Speaker 3 (49:54):
I'll run across you in.

Indy, you'll get on a committee or something like
that, and I'll be up there.
I'm not leaving the AmericanLegion.
I'll just be doing differentthings now.
I need a little bit of rest.
I can use a little bit of rest.

Nice to put that blue cap on for a minute and
take a deep breath.
Yeah yeah, and Mama's going tobe glad to have you home for a
while.

Oh, yeah, yeah, she said that the other day.
She said you know I know youmiss me because I miss you.
She said but what you do is youknow you've never.
You don't say no to veterans.
I said I can't baby I justcan't do it.
Yeah, you know uh and I said, uh, but I'll be.

(50:39):
You know a couple and that wasa couple months when I said,
well, in a couple of months I'llbe finished and you know, we'll
be able to do what we want todo and all this kind of stuff.
She said, well, I'm lookingforward to it, but at the same
time time, I know you're goingto miss it.
I said yeah, but we'll betogether, We'll be doing some
things.

Take a long extended vacation, maybe.

Yeah, after we come back from Tampa, we get back
home.
A couple of days after we getback home, we're going to take a
road trip down to Florida.
I see my daughters down thereand I have a granddaughter down
there and I have a great-grandTwo of them.
Be nice now.
Yeah, two of them down there.

Young man like yourself with a great-grand, oh
yeah, yeah absolutely.

Speaker 3 (51:17):
And it's like Letha said.

She said I was talking to her earlier this
afternoon and she said well, ifyou get a chance, give me a call
.
If you don't, then if you canremember old man, give me a call
.
She said you'll be an old mantomorrow.
I said no, I'm not, I'm not old.
I said old's nothing.
Who came up with that?

anyway, I said you know she laughs.
As old as you feel right.

That's right, that's right.

Well, commander, I know that you told me before
where was home, but if you wouldplease tell me again where's
home in your home post, and ifsomebody wanted to stop and
visit you at the post, when doyou all meet?

My home is Charleston, south Carolina.
Okay, but my post is 147.
It's located on James Island,which is in Charleston County.
Okay so it's on Highway 174,like you're going to Folly Beach
.
If you come to Charleston,you're going to go to the
beaches Well, one of the biggoing to Folly Beach.

(52:12):
If you come to Charleston,you're going to go to the
beaches Well, one of the bigbeaches is Folly Beach and the
post sits off the road there.
It's post 147.
You can look it up, but it's afantastic post.
I mean it really is.
I mean, a lot of people overthe years have put a lot of work
into it.
We've got a beautiful hall youcan rent.
It comes equipped withbathrooms and a beverage-serving

(52:37):
area, two doors, so you'refire-protected on that, you know
and you've got a stage andeverything else.
So we rent that out a lot anduse it.
We use it for our meetings, infact, and then on the other side
of the wall, uh, we have ourcanteen and, uh, some games that
are in there and memorabilia onthe walls and stuff like that,

(52:57):
and we also have our office andwe have our security, and we
have security all the way aroundoutside and inside the building
.

Wow, okay so charleston, south carolina
charleston, south carolina I wasat fort bragg.
I'm sure I was over there quitea bit because I was finding
some cold water someplace.
Bragg didn't have a lot of coldwater.
It had a lot of sand and fleasand ticks and mercy.

We called Charleston the holy city.
The holy city because of allthe churches, the city of
Charleston proper.
If you didn't know better andnobody told you any better and
you woke up, opened your eyes,you would easily think you were

(53:41):
in New Orleans.
The architecture is so much thesame, savannah is a little bit,
but not to the level thatCharleston and New Orleans, and
sometimes the dialect.

See, I was going to ask you about that because
you do have almost a New Orleanstinge to your accent.

I got along good down in New Orleans.
When we was down there for theconvention they thought I was
one of the guys.
But I have people, it's notuncommon.
But somebody will say you knowwhere are you from?
And I'll say I'm Charleston,south Carolina.
And they say no, were you bornthere?
And I go, yeah, and they go man, you sound like you're from New
Orleans.

And the humidity in Charleston is just about
like it is in New Orleans.

It really is you, and we enjoyed.

Speaker 3 (54:27):
New.

Orleans down there.
I had been down there before Itook my wife to the Bennigan's.
That's the home of where theymake the the beignet.
Well beignet, but they alsomake bananas, foster.

Oh yes.

Now, they didn't create it, but the grandmother,
the guy that it's a familybusiness, the family that's
running it now, she went to thatrestaurant to get something I
can't remember the name of it.
She went there to get somethingto eat.
She her grandson was in therestaurant when we were there.

(55:03):
And we got to talking and awaiter brought him over and he
introduced us and so forth andhe told a story about how she
saw him make that dessert andshe said wow.
So she ordered one at the tableand she watched how he made it
because they make it right atthe table fire and all the whole
nine yards and nothing fakeabout it.

(55:24):
And so that night she came backto their restaurant and worked
on it and created it and itstayed with them.
I mean, that is a, what do yousay?
I mean, that is their premiumdessert so my mouth is watering
right now.
Let me tell you, I love it ohgod, we went down and got it but

(55:45):
uh, and the food is excellentthere to start with, like it is
in so many restaurants aroundthe world.
But Louisiana, you know most ofyour places in Louisiana.
They're just superb places toeat, you know.

Have you had the alligator cheesecake yet?

No, but I've had alligator, Ooh son.

What did the man say?

Yeah, I'm a banana pudding guy.
Look pig out right over here.

I know.

I know I went over and got the chicken already.

Man got the banana pudding last night.
Checked my sugar this morningit was still high.
Yeah, Commander, what do yousee for yourself in the future
as far as the American Legiongoes?

I would think that in all probability, I'll be put
on some commission or committee.
My background and my knowledgeand my years provide that, and

(56:46):
so specifically I don't know forsure.

Speaker 3 (56:48):
I know.

I will be appointed to the media and communications
committee, but that's donethrough the department my
department and Jim Hawk is thenational executive committeeman
now.
He took my place when.
I moved up and he said I needsomebody.
I said okay, and I'm also now.

(57:11):
I have a lifetime appointmentto the department executive
committee as a past departmentcommander, but I'm on the
committee now to find anadjutant.
I'm also on the financecommittee in the department.

Are you going to be busy even?

Oh yeah, all that takes place in Columbia and
that's a 90-minute drive for meif the traffic lets me get there
.

I've never seen the traffic cooperate no.

So you know, yeah, I'll still have that activity,
but I'll have some activities inthe national yes sir, yeah.

Well, I hope you'll consider Mississippi your
second home and come back andvisit us.
Listen, I really am, I'mserious now I've been to 11 of
the 12 departments and.

I've had fun in all of them.
I'm going to have fun, you know, but I've got to tell you I
really thoroughly and I hopethey appreciated the fact that I
made that statement to themtonight or this afternoon I
really have enjoyed being here.
I really have.
It was a lot of fun.
We've had a lot of laughs, Someof them guys, they hadn't
changed over the years.

(58:21):
I mean gee and some of the newpeople you know.
I think the thing too is, jerry, when the guy that was sitting
in the district commander, thatwas sitting there in place of
one of the vice, commanders,something couldn't be okay.
He came up and was talking andeverything and he said you're

(58:43):
just full of knowledge.
And I said not really.
He said yes, you are.
I said how do you know I'mtelling you the truth?
He said, commander, I can tellwhen you.
How do you know I'm telling youthe truth?
He said, commander, I can tellwhen you're telling me.

Speaker 3 (58:54):
I know you tell the truth.

He said you know, you've already, so we joke
around about it, but that's,that's another one is it you
know, he said I've never met apeople person like you.
Yeah, and I said well, you'd besurprised to know and that's my
wife always gets on me becausewhen he said that, here's my
reply you'd be surprised to knowthat I also wear my underwear

(59:18):
backwards and he's doing whatyou're doing now.
People start laughing.
I just know that the more yousmile, the happier you are.

I'd rather walk away with a smile on my face
than a frown on my heart themore you smile, the happier you
are.

Yes, sir, I'd rather walk away with a smile on
my face than a frown on myheart.

That's right, and it takes less muscles to
smile than it does to frownthere you go and you feel a
whole lot better, smiling.

Yeah, I'm feeling good.
I love my life.
I love the people in my lifethat I've yet to meet and I love
the ones that's been in my life.
I love the people in my lifethat I've yet to meet and I love
the ones that's been in my life.
I don't have a negative vibeabout anybody, and there's been
some real losers that havedanced through my shadow, but I

(01:00:05):
don't know.
I still think I got things todo.
I think there's still thingsthat need my attention certainly
in the American Legion.
So I'm good Lord's willing andthe creek don't rise, as they
say, I'll be able to do it.

Jerry Allhands (01:00:25):
Well, once again , I want to say thank you to
your bride for sharing you withus.
Thank you for her support ofyou, because you know we can't
do it without our brides.

Joe Lysaght (01:00:36):
No.

Now my wife might disagree with me a few
times.

Well, they want to frown.
A couple of times you get oneof them like are you kidding?

Speaker 3 (01:00:45):
me.

But you know, I can confide in her and do with
anything.
There's no negatism there youknow it may be caution.
She may say are you sure youwant to do that or something
like that.
But I mean Lisa's so supportive, I mean, and I tell you if

(01:01:08):
she's got a fault is she alwaysfinds some good in the worst
situation.
And I tell her I said she'sworse than my mother.
My mama used to be like that,you know.
Sometimes I said baby,sometimes she'd say no.
Now, you know, and she's notoverly religious, she is

(01:01:32):
religious, but I mean, mean,it's just the way she was raised
, the way she was.
Her daddy was that way he was.
He knew everybody, he lovedeverybody and it could be
raining outside but he couldfind a reason to go out there
and get a glass of water orsomething I don't know.

Yeah, exactly, he'd do that, definitely, but
I've and go out there and get aglass of water or something I
don't know.
Yeah, exactly, yeah definitely.

You need to do that Definitely, but I've enjoyed
you, my friend, well thank you,sir, I really have.

It's been an honor and a privilege to meet
with you and to visit with youand to have you on the podcast
here and you know, on behalf ofthe Department of Mississippi
and the American Legion here,thank you so much for coming and
being our guest, my pleasure.
We look forward to seeing youin Tampa.

I'll be there with that yellow tie on at some point
.

Woo, shoot that thing, sir.
Appreciate you very much.
Have a great night.
Let's go get a piece of cake,huh.
Be sure to join me next weekfor more from the American
Legion Department of MississippiConvention right here in
Natchez, mississippi.
And don't forget to hit thefollow button to subscribe to
this podcast and drop us a textmessage and, if possible, please

(01:02:36):
consider supporting this show.
All the buttons are right hereon our page, so don't forget to
subscribe, sponsor and leave atext message.
Hey, we'll see you next time onthe Veterans Sound Off Podcast,
a production of All Hands MediaLLC, with offices inar
Mississippi.
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