MINNEAPOLIS — It sounded like Harrison Phillips and Jimmie Buss were long lost friends.

The Vikings captain and former U.S. Army Tank Commander met for the first time last Tuesday at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, starting a month of events for the NFL's Salute to Service initiative.

They traded stories and laughs, learning they're more alike than anyone might think.

Phillips was born in Nebraska, and Buss was stationed there after he was shot in the arm and Maj. Gen. George Patton IV sent him stateside from the Vietnam War; they discussed a passion for hunting – Phillips asked Buss if his aim was any good: "Oh yeah, I was a farm boy," Buss said; and contemplated discipline. Buss loved Patton's strict leadership. Phillips has benefited from tough coaching as a player.

Both of Phillips' grandfathers were service members. Their sacrifice inspired him to regularly visit veterans like Buss. Since entering the NFL in 2018, he has committed to give thanks and gain perspective.

"I always try to be as respectful as I can," said Phillips, adding football creates a segue to conversation. "Everyone has gone through something in their life and they've overcome some form of adversity."

Buss is fighting T-Cell Lymphoma and has been at the VA for six weeks – and doesn't expect he'll be able to go home again. Karen, his wife of 54 years, and daughter-in-law Caryn were there for Phillips' visit.

After the Vikings defensive lineman walked out of his room, Buss felt extra talkative. He pointed to his wife and said, "I have a list of 10 things in my life that are important to me and she's always the No. 1."

Tears welled in his eyes. Buss was demonstrably moved by the kind interaction.

Phillips' personal tour to meet veterans battling severe illnesses happened shortly after he and teammates Sam Darnold, Walter Rouse and Zavier Scott greeted a room of veterans gathered in the VA's Community Living Center. They introduced themselves with a microphone and shared a slice of life.

"This is my first year here in Minnesota and I'm very, very excited to be here because of people like you," Darnold relayed to the group. "I have a buddy that's serving overseas right now, and I'm just very grateful for the freedoms that we have here in this country because of great and kind people like you guys."

Scott's father retired after serving 23 years in the Army and relocating his family numerous times. Rouse had a grandparent who served in the Air Force and continues to be amazed by the sacrifices of veterans and their family members.

The players rubbed shoulders with veterans, mostly male, of all ages and areas of service. One man, turning 98 this winter, sat wrapped in a purple blanket in a wheelchair. Another looked very out of place.

From head to toe, he was covered in the wrong colors: Packers socks and a Packers T-shirt; a protective helmet, hiding a mini-crater on the side of his skull from a home-improvement project gone awry, displaying Packers stickers. Amazingly, casts on both of his hands to his mid-forearms weren't green.

They were Vikings Purple and Lions Blue, representing the rest of the NFC North, he said.

Phillips poked fun at the Green Bay gear existing in a roomful of Vikings fans.

"So we have one thing in common – we hate the Bears!" Phillips quipped.

It turned out there were more parallels between the Vikings defensive captain and 63-year-old Army veteran Tim Kahle, who said he enlisted after high school.

They both benefited from a tight-knit work environment – and, yes, dislike the Bears.

"Don't need the Bears, because you know what the Bears stand for? Be. Expecting. Another. Rotten. Season," jived Kahle, who lives in Dubuque, Iowa, and said he eggs Chicago fans on as much as he can.

Kahle assured enlisting was "one of the smartest things I've ever done" and noted the similarities of a football team building camaraderie and the countless hours that he spent every day with his comrades.

That bond was rekindled over Memorial Day weekend in 2016 when nine Army vets, including Kahle, met for a reunion at the U.S. Army Engineer School at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. It's where Kahle was trained before he shipped off. Some of the veterans were together for a couple years in Germany.

"It was just like we never left each other," Kahle reminisced of days gone by sitting at a table in the Community Living Center. "We were giving each other [a hard time] as soon as we got out of the car."

Phillips understood Kahle's emotion.

"Any time that you sweat and cry and bleed with a group of men, you can't really replace that anywhere else," said Phillips, adding he's heard from numerous former players that the transition to life after football is so tough in part because it's impossible to replicate that brotherhood. "There's similar conversations that have sparked up in my 7-8 years of serving and hanging out with our vets – they've talked about that camaraderie, that brotherhood and that shooting the [breeze] that you just don't really get; that locker room vibe that you can get in the trenches for these guys or in the locker room for us."

Although Kahle was decked out in Packers attire – his purple cast gets him a pass – he was excited for the chance to meet Vikings players. The visit transported him to the innocence of his childhood.

"I've seen other players at other times," said Kahle, who expects to wear his helmet for another month, "but this is closer to home because when I was a kid we only had three [TV] channels, so on the weekends you watched the football game that was on, and I remember a lot of the old Vikings players."

Alan Olson also recalls Vikings Legends and team lore.

The 83-year-old was drafted into active service with the U.S. Army Artillery for two years. He spent another two years on standby and two more as a reserve. All the while, he continued cheering for Minnesota.

"This is a treat because I don't get the chance to go to any games," Olson said, noting he did a long time ago. "It's just a treat watching them. I've been a Vikings fan up and down – whether they're down or up."

Olson's favorite memory is Ahmad Rashad's miracle catch in the 1980 comeback led by "Two-minute Tommy" Kramer at the Old Met that flung the Vikings into the playoffs. Olson's brother-in-laws wanted to leave when the Vikings trailed 23-9 in the fourth quarter, but he refused: "I said, 'No! It's not over.' "

More recently, Olson enjoyed watching Minnesota complete the NFL's largest comeback in 2022, erasing a 33-point deficit against the Colts, and supporting this year's squad in crushing preseason expectations.

Olson gazed at Darnold.

"What's cool is they didn't have high expectations when he got here," he stated. "And 5-0 to start?"

Olson is the very best of classic Vikings fans: steadfast in his belief all the time, and happy to humble brag – even in his eighth decade of fandom – when they're rolling; his face lit up meeting the guys.

And vice versa. The Vikings players said hello with admiring eyes and offered sincere conversations.

Rouse said he met one veteran who left an impression on him with a hearty handshake. He called the visit the highlight of his week. Scott listed off all the places he lived as a military kid – Texas, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Germany, etc. – and connected with the behind-the-scenes of veterans' lives.

Darnold entertained the flurry of requests for autographs and even channeled the spirit of his grandfather and Marlboro Man actor Dick Hammer, posing for a video of a handshake with a veteran. In one light conversation, Darnold raised some eyebrows, insisting he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.85 seconds.

Matter of fact, Darnold did. Still, his "sneaky athleticism" has kept veterans on their toes.

Phillips said people ask him what he focuses on in the fourth quarter of tight games. When there's a pause in action and his heart is beating out of his chest, his mind races to these types of interactions.

On many occasions, he shared, "I think about people I've met. I see faces of individuals. I think about, those are our true heroes … our military specifically, and I think it's great that the NFL tries to honor them. There's a lot of NFL clubs in VAs across the country today and I'm happy to be a part of that."