Tom Lyons is known for Minnesota Military Radio, but now he is feeding veterans

From radio to food

GOLDEN VALLEY — Vietnam veteran Tom Lyons is best known in the Minnesota veterans community as the founder and past host of Minnesota Military Radio.

Nowadays, he’s involved in a new cause — feeding veterans.

“It bothers me that there are veterans going to bed at night hungry,” he said. “I’ve reached the conclusion I have to give back.”

In January 2024, studies by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs found that 11 percent of veterans are “food insecure,” meaning they lack reliable access to food, whether it is money, physical limitations, family looking after them or other resources.

The VA decided to OK the use of its system of medical centers to provide food to veterans. The Minneapolis VA was able to use non-appropriated federal funds plus donations from Second Harvest, DAV Foundation and others to get a food pantry rolling in April 2024.

Minneapolis VA Director Pat Kelly doesn’t want the program to rely on federal, state or local grants. He met with Lyons, DAV of Minnesota Adjutant Butch Whitehead and Minneapolis VA Director of Civic Engagement Rachel Hammer, to come up with ideas.

Whitehead and Lyons told Kelly that they would form a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to fund the food pantry.

“We’ll be your fundraising arm,” Lyons said.

“We wanted to launch a separate nonprofit so that we could make sure it had the flexibility to help all Minnesota veterans, not just in the metro,” Whitehead said.

Lyons received the IRS letter by the end of 2024. The nonprofit is called the Minnesota Veterans Food Pantry. Its website is mnvp.org.

Lyons made the first donation on Jan. 2, 2025. Then he got some Vietnam veteran buddies to pony up. He also set up his account to automatically give. Now, he wants the readers of The Minnesota Legionnaire to visit the website and contribute, too.

The food pantry takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (or out of food) on the third Tuesday of each month in the auditorium of the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. No ID is needed. All a veteran has to do is walk in.

Kelly said there are plans to expand it to VA clinics in the Twin Ports and Chippewa Falls before the year ends.

“Tom is an unbelievable partner and advocate and sponsor,” Kelly said. “He can support as much as we can do. He’s made this his next mission, and he’s really gone after it.”

Kelly said the pantry serves an average of 230 veterans each time.

Whitehead said the board wants to look into Greater Minnesota partners, such as Channel One in Rochester, and conduct food shelves in places across the state. They could work with local Legion and VFW posts, DAV chapters, county service officers and local veterans communities.

“We’re definitely in the early stages here,” he said. “The problem is Minneapolis VA Medical Center can’t touch all of the veterans.”

Another possibility is armories. The board wants to look at National Guard or Reserve soldiers and airmen who deal with food insecurity.

 

Foster child to airman

Thomas W. Lyons, 72, is a 41-year member of Ernest Aselton American Legion Post 118 in Wayzata. He is an Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War.

His father served in the Marines in World War II. His mother died when he was 11, and he grew up in a foster home. Lyons, who had a high draft number, enlisted in the Air Force to earn the G.I. Bill.

The first place the Air Force sent him for duty was not far away at all: Minot AFB in North Dakota. He wanted out of there, so the Air Force, in 1971, sent him to Vietnam to the 432nd Combat Support Group, where Lyons served in the accounting and finance department at Cam Ranh Bay.

Fast forward to May 15, 1972. The base closed early, and the Air Force was sending airmen home or to other places. Lyons had to remain behind to keep payroll going for the personnel guys who were processing everything. Later, the Air Force airlifted them out. His 13-month tour had ended after 12 months.

The Air Force sent him back to the Midwest — to Duluth AFB. (In 1982, the Duluth AFB became the Duluth Air National Guard Base.) There, he transferred to the Air National Guard as part of a voluntary program called Palace Chase. It provides incentives for active-duty personnel to transfer to Air Force Reserve or National Guard components. Lyons switched to the 133rd Airlift Wing and was able to begin college early.

 

Next stage of life

Over the years, he has become active in the Legion and other veteran organizations. After college, he became an administrator for a Minneapolis law firm.

The law firm specialized in personal injury but also handled mergers and acquisitions. Lyons worked there for 10 years and became adept in the field.

“I brought many assets to the table. I did the spreadsheets and learned mergers and acquisitions the hard way,” he said.

By 1985, the law firm planned to send Lyons to Wyoming, so he changed course and decided to set up his own firm. This became Faelon Partners Ltd., which is a business brokerage firm offering representation for mergers, estate and financial planning and acquisitions. Primarily, the firm helps clients buy or sell businesses.

Lyons resides in Prior Lake with his wife. They have a son and two grandchildren.

A lot of shows across the radio dial are all talk and few guests. MMR is guest-after-guest-after-guest. The focus is on the military and veteran community, not the host.

“It’s not about me. It never has been,” Lyons said.

Lyons has hosted 740 radio shows for Minnesota Military Radio. He now substitutes once a while.

Doug Wortham, the new host, is a retired Minnesota National Guard command sergeant major and a Legionnaire with Willmar Post 167.

Lyons first got into radio with drive-time spots called “Today’s Business News Radio,” typically heard on WCCO 830 AM or KTLK News Talk 1130 AM. His voice still can be heard on those ads.

Back in 2010, KTLK personality Andrew Lee (who died in 2022 and best known for the former morning show “Justice & Drew”) called up Lyons about wanting to start a one-hour Sunday morning public-service program. KTLK would provide the engineering and promos. The host job would be a volunteer.

“When can we begin?” Lyons said.

Then they connected with the Minnesota National Guard, the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, the Minneapolis VA, the Minnesota Commanders’ Task Force, Beyond the Yellow Ribbon and the Minnesota Association of County Veteran Service Officers. All of them play a role in assisting the radio program.

“The stories are compelling,” Lyons said. “The hardest thing I ever had to do was step away and let Doug take over.”

Lyons has been a volunteer on the board of directors for the Minnesota Military Family Foundation for 21 years. He became involved through the legendary Harry Sieben, a trial attorney, a former speaker of the Minnesota House and former adjutant general of the Minnesota National Guard.

Since 2004, the foundation, abbreviated as MMFF, distributes money through grants to Minnesota military families that are need of assistance. It works with chaplains and Soldier and Family Readiness Centers at the armories across the state. Since its inception, it has given over 2,600 grants totaling more than $7 million.

 

Food pantry

The Minnesota Veterans Food Pantry has a small six-veteran board. The organization doesn’t handle the food or logistics of setting up the pantry.

“Its sole purpose is to raise the money to pay for the food,” Lyons said. “Veterans are proud and often not comfortable going to the local food shelf but they will go to the VA.”

Anyone wanting to volunteer with food distribution can go through Rachel Hammer, director of civic engagement at the Minneapolis VA.

For Lyons, he is busy recruiting helpers to continue to cause and be donors to it, too.

“I don’t think about my aches and pains when I am helping other people.”