Groundbreaking for Military Family Tribute is June 4 at capitol
A rendering of rocks, or “Story Stones,” from each of the 87 counties in Minnesota will be arranged into a cluster of nine northern hemisphere constellations, and will include excerpts from correspondence sent by family members. (Submitted artwork) BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Bill Popp has never been in the military, but he has spent much of his adult life making sure that those who serve their country – as well as their families – are well taken care of. Popp, chair and president of POPP Communications, a voice, Internet and data communications company in Golden Valley, is the founder and president of the Minnesota Military Family Foundation, which started in 2004. His wife, Teri, is president of a separate project called Minnesota Military Family Tribute.
“My wife’s father was in the Air Force (for) 27 years, and he faced many different challenges in holding the family together because they moved so much,” Popp said. Many other families have made similar sacrifices on behalf of their country, and that is the reason behind the creation of the foundation, Popp said. “The number one request we hear (from military people) is, ‘Take care of my family,’” Popp said. “In today’s environment, families and soldiers can be in close and fast contact through email and voicemail,” Popp continued. “When a soldier is distracted because of concerns about financial issues or difficulties with the family back home, every soldier in the squad is at
risk because the soldier is not fully engaged in the patrol or mission. When the soldier is no longer focused on the financial situation at home, the soldier is able to stay engaged in the mission and protect the other soldiers in the squad to the fullest.” Contributions to the community-supported fund are “made by people who understand that there are many sacrifices that military families make and want to help soften the extraordinary financial hardships that may occur when a family member is deployed by providing a financial safety net,” the group’s website states. “When we help one soldier, we help all soldiers, “ TRIBUTE - TO PAGE 4
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Mature Lifestyles • Thursday, May 15, 2014 Page 3
WWII veteran still working on behalf of soldiers BY SUE WEBBER • CONTRIBUTING WRITER Stan Kowalski’s installation as state commander of Minnesota’s VFW in 2008 may have seemed to some to be a swan song for the World War II veteran. But the 88-year-old U.S. Navy veteran has proved them wrong. “I’m the only one who ever got the triple crown: AllAmerican post, all-American district, and all-American state commander,” Kowalski said. “No one in 100 years has done that.” Kowalski served two terms as post commander for Fridley VFW Post 363, a term as 7th District VFW commander and a term as state commander in 2008-09. Kowalski, a 42-year resident of Fridley and life member of Fridley VFW Post 363 who now lives in Blaine, continues to advocate for veterans any way he can. Kowalski served in the Navy from 1943-46, working as a gunner’s mate on three different submarines in the southwest Pacific. “I joined the Navy at 16-and-a-half, “ he said. “I used another guy’s birth certificate to get in.” His name then was Bert Smith, but he later took his grandfather’s surname. He didn’t slow down once he got back. Kowalski honed his skills as a professional wrestler, working in 6,600 matches and collecting 19 major titles from 195076 as “Krusher Kowalski.” He started wrestling at the University of Minnesota. “Stan Mayslack took me under his wing and sent me to a promoter in California,” Kowalski said. He recalls wrestling in the late 1950s at De LaSalle High School for $25 a match. “Six weeks later we sold out the Minneapolis Auditorium,” he said. “We did good.” “It was fun; it’s good entertainment and they’re good athletes,” said Kowalski, who was inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame. He also served 18 years on the Spring Lake Park District 16 School Board, was named Outstanding State School Board member in 1992, and was a member of the State School Board Association and the Minnesota State High School League. He even spent 10 years coaching Little League baseball. Despite some health problems, Kowalski’s focus these days continues to be on veterans, particularly those who are homeless. “I won’t let my illness get me down,” he said. Kowalski estimates there are 700 homeless vets in the Twin Cities, and 7,000 statewide. “We’ve got to get them educated, get them off the streets and get them working,” Kowalski said. “Abraham Lincoln said we should take care of veterans when they come back. It’s about time we started to do that.” He’d like to turn a vacant Minneapolis building into small one-room apartments for those homeless vets. Members of the building trades stand ready to help with that, he said. “I’d like to see one slot machine for every 10 chairs at every American Legion and VFW,” Kowalski said.
ABOVE: On his 87th birthday in 2013, Stan Kowalski was sworn in as an honorary deputy sheriff by Anoka County Sheriff Jim Stuart, who recognized Kowalski’s long service to the nation and to the community. (Photo by Eric Hagen) RIGHT: Stan Kowalski is pictured with his father, Ben Smith, after he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. (Submitted photo) BELOW: A World War II service ribbon. (File photo)
“Forty percent would go to the Veterans Administration, 20 percent to the club and 20 percent to this project.” Kowalski still meets monthly with the Minnesota submarine vets group in Richfield. And he’s a life member of the Fridley VFW. He also serves on the Anoka County Vets Council. “In my lifetime if I can help even one vet to better his life, my life is better, too,” Kowalski said. “I’m doing what I can.” VETERAN - TO PAGE 5
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The Walkway, as depicted in an artist’s rendering, will feature rows of sugar maples to provide shade and color, as well as beds of flowering and foliage plants to mark the entrance to the tribute. (Submitted artwork)
Tribute FROM PAGE 1 Popp said. When we help one military family, we’re helping all military families. When a service person knows and sees how the community steps forward, he knows the community cares and he knows that he matters.� The foundation, administrated by an all-volunteer, 11-member board of directors, creates a lot of impact that “ripples out in a very huge way,� Popp said. Money sent to the foundation is a way for people to “show their thanks and support to our deployed troops and their families,� according to the foundation’s website. Funds raised are distributed through grants and loans to Minnesota military families of deployed soldiers that need a little help.
It honors requests for household expenses like utilities, rent and mortgages; household appliances and repair; auto repairs; transportation and lodging for families to visit a soldier in the hospital; and family counseling and medical expenses. “When people discover what we do, they say, ‘Sign me up to help. How can I help?’� said Popp, who estimates that the fund already has helped between 1,300 and 1,400 military families. Minnesota Military Family Tribute Bill and Teri, a retired attorney and former Special Assistant Attorney General for the state of Minnesota, are chairman of the board and president, respectively, of the Minnesota Military Family Tribute. Its mission is to build a tribute on the State Capitol Mall that will forever stand as a thank-you to every military and
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veteran family member – past, present and future. A military or veteran family member is defined as a spouse, significant other, child, parent, grandparent, sibling, or any other person a member or former member of the U.S. military defines as family. Groundbreaking for the Minnesota Military Family Tribute, the first of its kind in the nation, is set for 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 4, on the Minnesota State Capitol grounds in St. Paul. Popp said the idea for such a tribute came about after he was asked to speak at a Welcome Home event for Vietnam veterans in 2009. “My entire speech was a thank-you to family members,� Popp said. “No military families have suffered more than those of the Vietnam-era vets.� As part of the speech, Popp called out mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters of veterans, and asked for applause for them. “After the speech was over, I was surrounded by Vietnam veterans,� Popp said. “When I asked them why they were reaching out and thanking me, several said, ‘Nobody ever thanked our families like that.’� That was the impetus for Popp’s work with state officials to get a military family tribute established. The goal to raise $1 million for the project has been successfully reached. “It took two years of fundraisers,� Teri Popp said. The funding was secured through pri-
vate donations, including generous contributions from the Minnesota Military Family Tribute’s founding partners: Davisco Foods International Inc., Federated Insurance, POPP Communications, Starkey Hearing Technologies and Wells Fargo. HGA landscape architects won competitive bidding to design the tribute. “It came together so well,� Teri Popp said. “It was like putting a puzzle together. I learned more about trees, landscaping and dirt than I ever thought possible.� Framing the south end of the Minnesota State Capitol Mall, the tribute will consist of three main components: the Gold Star Table, Story Stones and the Military and Veteran Family Walkway. The bronze Gold Star Table recognizes the supreme sacrifice of Gold Star Families who have lost a loved one as the result of military service to the nation. Rocks, or “Story Stones,� from each of the 87 counties in Minnesota will include excerpts from correspondence sent by family members. The Walkway, according to Ted Lee of HGA Architects and Engineers, who commented about the project in an MFT newsletter, will be rows of sugar maples forming “a graceful arc which responds to the season.� The dedication for the completed project is scheduled for Saturday, June 13, 2015. “When you work on the State Capitol Mall, you have to have everything reserved well in advance,� Teri Popp said.
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Mature Lifestyles • Thursday, May 15, 2014 Page 5
Stan Kowalski still dons his uniform for official functions. (Submitted photo)
Veteran FROM PAGE 3 Along the way, he has formed a friendship with Anoka County Sheriff Jim Stuart. “I took a liking to the way he talked and saw things,” Kowalski said. Stuart said Kowalski “is certainly established as an advocate for veterans, amongst many other things.” He said the two got to know each other through community events, such as Memorial Day activities and events involving veterans raising the flag. “Every interaction I had with Stan affirmed he was always helpful, respectful and committed to helping others,” Stuart said. “The more I learned about his story, the more I realized what a difference he has made. His history of advocating on behalf of others is truly admirable. “I have always believed that we are all given an opportunity to make a difference in our communities,” Stuart continued. “It is what we do with that opportunity that defines us. Stan has done a lot to ensure that his legacy is defined as having made many positive differences in our communities.” Stuart swore Kowalski in as an honorary Anoka County Sheriff’s Deputy in 2013.
“Our community is a better place because of Stan Kowalski’s having been a part of it,” Stuart said. These days, according to daughter Stacy Smith, Kowalski still has “so many irons in the fire.” He helps the Greater Twin Cities United Way raise money, served on a national committee for the POW-MIA Foundation and on the Big BrothersBig Sisters Board. He was elected to the University of Minnesota’s Wall of Fame and the city of Fridley’s Hall of Fame. In April, Steel Domain Wrestling presented Kowalski with its first Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring his career in wrestling and his continuing support and advocacy for veterans. Now Kowalski is busy getting his Angel Brigade ready for Memorial Day. The girls, ages 3-12, represent each branch of the service and take part in a ceremony on that day by placing headwear of all branches of the service on chairs draped in black to remember those who have been lost. Many of the members of the Angel Brigade are granddaughters of men who have served in the military. “Those little girls take it so seriously; they are so honored to do this,” Stacy Smith said. A native of north Minneapolis, Kowalski is a graduate of North High School. He and his wife, the late Cleo Smith, had a son, a daughter and four grandsons. The couple was married for 51 years before Cleo died in 2012. Stan Kowalski wrestled under the name “Krusher Kowalski” from 1950-76. (Submitted photo)
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Nursing degree led to Army service during Vietnam War BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
in Heidelberg, at all kinds of different posts around there. I was in charge, and I didn’t know enough to be scared. We If you ask Trisha Bach Robbins when were in the middle of a war, and they she decided to be a nurse, she talks about had to use the people they had. My sava photograph of herself at the age of 5 or ing grace was that the civilian nurses on 6, in which she wore a Clara Barton cape my unit were old enough, experienced and hat and carried a little medical bag. enough and kind enough to show me the “I was going to be a nurse; there was ropes by example without embarrassing no question about it,” said Robbins, 67, me.” who lives in Minnetonka with her husAs a result, Robbins said, “I learned band, Jim. more faster in my first year in the miliWhen she was 9, a cousin came to tary than I had in four years in college.” stay with the Bach family while she was She also had a chance to see places in nurse’s training. That while she was there that cinched it for Trisha. she wouldn’t have seen “If I wanted to be a otherwise, including nurse at 5, I was locked in France, Austria, England at 9,” she said. and Scandinavia. When Robbins was 12, After a three-year Eushe was a junior volunteer ropean tour in Germany, at Methodist Hospital; at Robbins was sent to a hos16, she’d become a nurse’s pital in Augusta, Ga., and assistant. Following gradassigned to teach Licensed uation from St. Louis Park Practical Nurses (LPNs). High School, earning a “I was teaching young degree in nursing at the men and women the baUniversity of Wisconsinsics, like how to take blood Madison was a logical next pressures and what high step. and low blood pressure The Vietnam War was mean,” she said. “In those well underway by then, Trisha Bach Robbins days, only doctors, resiand Robbins thought joindents and military nurses ing the Army would be a good way to could start IVs (intravenous therapy).” use her training and see the world at the In addition to teaching, she spent same time. part of her time on an orthopedic ward, “I decided to go into the Army be- where she came face to face with the ravcause they would send me overseas,” she ages of the war through the young GIs said. “I was young, and I wanted to do who had been wounded on the front lines something different.” and sent back to the states to recuperate. After training at Fort Sam Houston in “I remember one poor guy who had Texas, Bach was assigned to a hospital in picked up a grenade to toss it and it blew Heidelberg, Germany. She was housed up and took off both of his arms,” she in BOQ (bachelor’s officer quarters) off said. “The kid, who was 18-20 years old, base, which were similar to small apart- looked me right in the eye and said, ‘I’ll ments in a housing area. never be able to hug my girl.’ Captains The medical corps and nursing corps aren’t supposed to cry. I had to leave the were not typical military, she said. Nurs- room. I’ll never forget that kid.” ing and medical staff members all went From Georgia, Robbins was sent to into the Army as officers. Bach was a first Brooklyn, N.Y., where she was a nurse at lieutenant. an outpatient clinic for a time before her Today’s nurses wear scrubs at work, duty was completed. but in those days, they were required Would she do the seven-year military to wear white dresses, white nylons and stint over again? shoes, and a nurse’s cap. “Absolutely,” Robbins said. “I’m aw“I was fresh out of school but I was fully glad I did it. There was nothing the only military nurse in the unit I pulling me back home then.” was assigned to, so I became the head Her next assignment, had she stayed in nurse,” Robbins said. “We were provid- the military, would have been Vietnam, ing care for people who were stationed she said.
Trisha Bach Robbins’ early decision to be a nurse was illustrated in this photograph, taken when she was 6 years old. (Submitted photos) She is still in touch with friends who are now retired nurses and were stationed with her in Germany. Returning from her seven years of military service, Robbins found that having been a nurse and officer in the Army “made my resume look very good.” She had no trouble getting jobs as a head nurse or supervisor. Her career took off from there, leading to nursing jobs at Ramsey County Medical Center, and Lutheran Deaconess, Eitel and Abbott-Northwestern hospitals in the Twin Cities. She’s still working part-time as an IVteam nurse, and patients will sometimes ask her how long she’s been starting IVs. Her reply? “Oh, I started during the Vietnam War.” Jan Rabbers, a communications repre-
sentative for the Minnesota Nurses Association, said it’s difficult to estimate the number of Minnesota nurses who have served in the military. She notes that the Nurse Cadet Corps started during World War I. The state’s Women’s Vietnam Memorial was initiated through the efforts of Minnesota nurses, Rabbers said. While she was coordinating the association’s centennial effort in 2005 and researching some of its history, Rabbers said, “I fell in love with these women who came up through the years. Their voices came out, and I was so honored to have those voices go through me. “There are so many amazing, poignant stories of bravery and courage,” Rabbers said. “You would be in tears, I guarantee it.”
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Mature Lifestyles • Thursday, May 15, 2014 Page 7
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