May 15, 2025
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DVD captures play by co-founder of Midwest Shelter For Homeless Veterans

By RENEE TOMELL
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Bob Adams (left) reunites with former Marine Jim Tucker, whose story is part of “Place of Angels.” Adams administered battlefield first aid to Tucker, who was injured in a mortar attack. “Jim Tucker was my best friend,” recalls Adams. “We took care of each other. He was like a big brother. One terrible day, he was wounded very grievously. I lost him for 30 years. (We first) reconnected just as the play was about to be produced in 2000.” (Submitted photo)

After serving in Vietnam, it was a long road home for Bob Adams of Winfield, who fought to get his life back and became a licensed clinical social worker along the way. Adams — who has a private practice in Lombard — turned into a champion for fellow soldiers, both by treating post-traumatic stress disorder, and later by co-founding the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans.

His memoir, "Place of Angels," was adapted into the one-man theater production a decade ago, whose most recent performance was just taped in Chicago starring Jeff Still. It's the centerpiece of a DVD that will be available in coming months.

Located in Wheaton, MSHV provides U.S. veterans of any era with transitional and affordable housing programs and supportive services to help them out of homelessness. It's the only veteran-specific transitional housing program in DuPage County.
 
How did the memoir come about?
I wrote the memoir in 1999 (from) the stories I'd been telling for years. I (had) volunteered as technical adviser for plays about Vietnam, (and theater) people would say, "You tell the stories, why not write them down?"

The memoir picks up with your 1960s preparatory seminary high school days.
I decided to join the Navy with a friend on the buddy plan. I weighed 105 pounds and was blind in the left eye. I wouldn't have gotten drafted, but the people at the recruiting center physical gave me the opportunity if I wanted to (enlist.) The last thing I wanted was to go (to Vietnam.) I thought by joining the Navy, I'd be offshore. I volunteered to become a hospital corpsman (and) ended up with a Marine platoon. I write about it from the point of view that I didn't do it for my country or democracy. I did what I did for those men that I served with — my squad, my platoon, my company. That's a more universal experience for veterans. It's more about who's there in front of you.

How has the show been received?
It's what I hoped it would be. It makes people laugh, it makes them cry, feel something and look at all of this in a somewhat different way than they might have. The main reasons for the DVD are education and therapeutic (use) — and it will (allow) some fundraising. (We're) making it available to VA hospitals; they have PTSD clinics. That's one of the places.

How did the DVD arise?
The idea … came from (retired Army) Col. Paul Herbert, director of the Cantigny First Division Museum, (who) came to see it staged in May, and said, "We've got to find some way to preserve this." The execution … was by Pam Kostecki, who is our newly minted director of operations — absolutely invaluable to getting it done.

Other thoughts?
Our mission is that we will leave no veteran behind to homelessness. When you're in your homes, as it should be, warm and safe and cared for, please give a brief thought to those men and women who are on the street tonight — all of them — and particularly those who wore the uniform and afford us all the opportunity to live the lives we get to live.

(Note: In February, Adams says he expects the 55th veteran to have successfully gone through the MSHV program, whose shelter opened in 2007.)

Find the DVD

What: "Place of Angels" DVD can be reserved

Contact: Pamela Kostecki, MSHV director of operations, at pam@mshv.org; www.helpaveteran.org