From the Commander, Terry S. Ward

I am excited to announce that we have four new members of our Post’s Executive Committee, and many others that are continuing to serve in the positions they have held in previous years.   Our new Post leadership is: 

Commander                     Terry Ward (8^th term, 3^rd as Commander)

1^st Vice Commander     Jeff Mattingly (2^nd  term, new   position)

Pictured above, left to right: Mike Adams, Terry Ward, Stephen Iles, David Hale, Bruno Padovani (Not pictured: Jeff Mattingly, Brandon Adderholt, and Patti Whitmore.)

I am reminded of  the phrase “Veterans Strengthening America” that I’ve read and heard other leaders use.  It’s a phrase that strikes my inner being and motivates me to look at the bigger picture of why we gather together, and how fortunate I am to associate with the best citizens our country has.   We are the “6.5 percenters”  of our Nation’s population that are/were willing to sacrifice for a cause bigger than ourselves or own self-interests.  We all have served, and continue to serve, our fellow veterans, our nation, our military, and communities we live in, and especially our youth and children.  I challenge you all to take an active role in the programs and events we are a part of as a post!  Post 281 has a reputation for being active and volunteering to make a difference.  Come and join us and make it happen! 

Continuing to Serve,

Terry Ward

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Randall Hutto is a lifelong resident of Wilson County. Growing up in Watertown, he graduated from Watertown High School and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree from Middle Tennessee State University in 1984. He would continue his education with a master’s plus 30 hours in Education from Trevecca Nazarene College.   He began his career in education at Lebanon High School in 1984, teaching U.S. History, Math and Physical Education. During his tenure at Lebanon High, Randall utilized his passion for both young people and athletics as an assistant varsity football coach for 18 years and led the Blue Devils Boys’ Varsity Basketball team as head coach for 12 years.   After an 18-year career at Lebanon High School, Randall accepted the opportunity to serve as Assistant Director of Schools for the Lebanon Special School District in 2003. He began new and challenging career in September of 2010, when the citizens of Wilson County elected him to serve as Wilson County Mayor. 

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UPCOMING POST CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

10 June, Regular Post meeting, CDP CC @ 5:30 pm. Reports from the guys that attended Boys State and Wilson County Mayor Randal Huttow will speak.      

14 & 15 June, Dept Convention, Murfreesboro, Embassy Suites

1 July, Executive Committee meeting, CDP CC Room B @ 5:30 pm

8 July,  Regular Post meeting, CDP CC @ 5:30 pm.    Reports from the guys attending Boys State

5 Aug, Executive Committee meeting, CDP CC Room B @ 5:30 pm

12 Aug,  Regular Post meeting, CDP CC @ 5:30 pm.    Reports from the guys attending Boys State

14-23 Aug, State/Wilson County Fair, Veterans Booth Coverage

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Meet your new Executive Committee Officers

Completed Basic Training 6/2023. Joined the Honor Guard 7/2023.  Volunteered for website content management (Webmeister) 11/2023.  Joined the Executive Committee as a non-voting member 2023.  Completed Department of Tennessee Legion Collage 8/2024. Accepted the 1st Vice Commander position 5/2025.

Military history:  Missouri Military Academy 1974 – 1978.  Echo Company Commander, 90 cadets.  Fusiliers exhibition drill team member and Individual Drill Regulation Squad Leader. U.S. Army 1979 – 1986.  MP Corps – 95B, Signal Corps – 34H, and Quartermaster Corps – 94B.

Civilian background:  14 years in beverage distribution (beer), 14 years in second-tier retail distribution (Essex/Bargain Hunt), warehousing & online fulfilment.  Local and OTR driving positions that filled in the gaps.

Hobbies:  Travel trailering, rough woodworking/ fix-it shop

I was stationed at Medical Center San Diego (Balboa) until 2016 working in Fleet Liaison (middleman between fleet and hospital organizing medevacs and briefing foreign ships), received orders to USS Frank Cable in Guam in 2016, entered the Planning division, allowing me to organize repair packages for submarines and surface ships throughout Asia and the Pacific theater. Honorable discharge in April 2018. I have been married 8 years and my wife and I have a 5-year-old boy. I currently work as an estimator for public, private, and commercial water and sewer services.

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Post 281’s Honor Guard is one of the few Honor Guards in our Region.  Our honor guard is typically called multiple times a month to provide honors at funerals all across our region.  If an Honor Guard is needed to “Present the Colors” , they call our post first.   The team is typically asked to offer a rifle volley as well.   Our team is often called upon to be an Honor Guard for fellow veterans that have passed on to the “Post Everlasting” , as is the Legion-approved manner of recognizing the death of a member.   OUR HONOR GUARD NEEDS ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.  The post provides the uniforms and reimburses the travel expenses to and from any organized call on the part of the Honor Guard.  If you are interested in finding out more, talk with any of the members of the team or contact HG Captain Steve Wren at 615-957-3489.  

The Honor Guard’s current and past members are ( not in alphabetical order) :   Cary Cundall and Steve Wren are the only active HG members who are left from the original 2011 HG.  Jim Atwood, Bill Houston and Robert Fields were also original members and are no longer active. Current members include:

Mike Adams, Jim Cheramie, Pat Costanza, Mike Faoro, David Hale, Jeff Mattingly, Don Moody, Bruno Padovani, Arnold Painter, Dan Rhame, Jim Simpson, Wayne Smith, Shawn Taylor, Brenda Thompson, Fred Thompson, Grady Thompson and Bud Werner.  Rolus Smith, Roland Forand and Mickey Clark were former active members for many years.  Cleo Todd, George Cooper and Mike Scoville are deceased.

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American Legion Riders, Run for the Wall 2025

A group of our Post 281 members welcomed The Run For The Wall riders at the Beckwith Road overpass on May 18th. I would guesstimate there were around 200 riders in the main body and then several different smaller groups that passed before they came through. It was a great day to be out there and to be welcomed by so many motorists and truckers that were going under the bridge and were thrilled to see American flags waving. Our post always offers financial support to this event in the way of funding some of the fuel cost for riders on their journey across the country, from Oxnard, CA to The Wall in Washington, D.C.

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American Legion of Tennessee, Boys State 25 -30 May, Tennessee Technical University, Cookville, Tennessee

Chris Davis, the News Channel 5, Emmy / AP Award-winning reporter at NewsChannel 5 Nashville, and former reporter at WHNT-Huntsville and KSDK- St. Louis (the red-haired young man pictured above on the right, when he was a junior in high school) shared his memories of being a Boys State selectee.

Governor Bill Lee (pictured above on the left) spoke at Tennessee’s Boys State today, “which got me reminiscing about my own American Legion Boys State experience,” stated Chris Davis.

Boys State is a nationwide program, run by the American Legion, which takes delegates from each high school and brings them together to learn about public service and leadership.

Over the course of a week, the boys (and girls at Girls State) elect a governor, mayors, aldermen and the like.

“I had a friend at Boys State that decided to run for governor, and I helped him run his campaign. The first picture there is me giving his nominating speech at the assembly. He won the nomination but fell short of the office. That experience probably served me well now that I cover the legislature for us.

“I recently found out that my grandfather and father also attended Boys State, which is pretty amazing. I’m glad the program still thrives.”

Our post sponsored the following young high school juniors. They have all committed to come and speak at one of our post meetings (reference below) and tell our members about their experience over the next three months, before school goes back into session.          

• From Mt Juliet High School:
• Bangera, Tanish (July)
• Brown, Oliver (Aug)
• Constantin, David (Aug)
• Lewis, Dyson (Aug)
• Scoby, Ethan (June)

• From Green Hill High School:
• Bearup, Riley (Aug)
• Gatlin, James (Jul)
• Loftis, Adam (Jul)
• Marshall, John (July, but presenting to the members of the Dell Webb Veteran’s Club )
• Hailu, Nikodemos (Jul)
• York, Nicholas (Aug)

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Boy Scout Troop 150 gets a new flag.

For those members who are unaware, American Legion Post 281 is the sponsor of Boy Scout Troop 150 of Mt Juliet. This has been an ongoing relationship that started shortly after the post was chartered. In a recent conversation with a few troop leaders, we were made aware that they needed a new Troop flag. They wondered if we could help them with financing. The answer was an emphatic “of course. We’d be glad to step in and help out.” This is what the flag looks like.

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Wilson County Memorial Day Events

Post 281 Commander Ward, center, Post 17 Commander Chris Beetles, left, Vietnam Veterans of American Commander Mike Myers, left and second row, and Linda Yates {President of the Auxiliary) Vietnam Veterans of America place a floral wreath in memory of Wilson County veterans that have given the ultimate sacrifice at the Wilson County Memorial Service held at the Veterans Center in Lebanon on Memorial Day.

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Random shots worth seeing. More information about the Honoring America’s Flag event in the future.

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Recent Quilts of Valor Recipients

Don Moody

Don Moody served in the U.S. Navy during Vietnam from 1963 to 1969 as a Construction Mechanic, specializing in the maintenance and repair of the Navy’s heavy construction equipment.

For the rest of Don’s meritorious service narrative please Click Here and take a moment to read about some of our other recipients as well.

Arnold (Arnie) Painter

Arnie, Jr., comes from a long family tradition of military service. His great-grandfather served in the Confederacy in the Civil War. His grandfather served under General Pershing during the Mexican Expedition from 1916-1917. His father, Arnie, Sr., served in WWII and the Korean War. Both Senior and Junior Arnie’s served at the same time in the 2d Infantry Division during the Korean War.

For the rest of Arnie’s lengthy and colorful service narrative, please Click Here and scroll down to find his story.

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Wilson County Fair

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Post Challenge Coin Sales and availablity

If you would like to purchase a Post Challenge Coin, contact FO Steve Iles though this website, or drop any post officer a note and we can “square you away”. Cost is $7.00 each. We have experienced very positive comments and greater-than-expected sales and it seems we will be placing a second order in the near future.

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Each year at the end of the school year, our post recognizes cadets from the local JROTC programs that excel in military excellence and in scholastic excellence. The cadets are selected by the program’s senior military instructors based on a variety of factors.

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For those of you whom have made it this far into the current newsletter, how about sharing a few comments or perhaps some recommendations for other “content” items that might be informative and entertaining. Although producing a document in the form of an online newsletter may seem simple, it represents hours of work and can be very frustrating too. Thanks……!