Stoen tells students of service during Cold War

Ron Stoen surprised himself with his collection of military memorabilia.

“I didn’t realize I had so much stuff until I started going through totes,” he said.

Those totes held reminders of Stoen’s nearly 20 years of service in the Army, including time spent in Germany and Alaska.

Stoen shared his collection with fourth-graders from Blooming Prairie Elementary School, who were invited to a presentation at the BP Servicemen’s Club on Veteran’s Day.

It was the first time he’d shared it with others, said Barb Kraling, Stoen’s sister, “and we didn’t even bring all of it.”

Also on display were some items from their father’s military service, as well as an uncle’s flight jacket.

Stoen is originally from Blooming Prairie, “but just as I was getting into school, the folks moved out to Claremont,” where he graduated from high school. He and Kraling both live in Blooming Prairie now.

He joined the Army in 1975, was in Germany for three and a half years, then spent several years in the reserves. He said he “stumbled upon” many of the items he displayed.

“A lot of units won’t let you keep stuff,” Stoen said of certain military sectors, “so usually, you turn it all in when you leave.”

His favorite pieces are his dress uniform, “and all the pictures I took” while overseas and in Alaska, where they built rifle ranges near Anchorage.

The annual program for the fourth-graders is organized by Marilyn Witzel, of the American Legion Auxiliary. She asked the students to write letters of thanks that will be sent to the VA Hospital in Minneapolis, and to submit questions for Stoen, which ranged from boot camp to homesickness.

“We stepped off the bus and the drill sergeants were standing on both sides of the door, banging on the sides of the bus, telling us to get our you-know-what off the bus,” he said of his introduction to the military.

There was rifle and gas mask training during the day, as well as marching and other physical work.

Stoen served during the Cold War, which he told the students was “a political time period, with the Soviets, Americans and foreign countries pushing at each other.”

He served in a transportation unit, so had the opportunity to see many countries, in addition to multiple areas of Germany – with special attention paid to the boundary between East and West Germany.

But, “when we weren’t working, we’d take the weekends, jump in the car and go to Munich to the Oktoberfest, or to Belgium, or to London,” Stoen said. “There’s kind of like a freedom, almost, because you were on the road, and traveling.”

Though it was hard to leave his family, “usually they kept you so busy it was kind of in the back of your mind, and after a while, you just kind of got used to it,” he told the students. “It was nice when your time was about done, and you knew you were going to come home.”

“You have to wear specific shoes,” Witzel said of Army boots, “and I didn’t see any up here.”

“That’s the one thing I don’t have in my collection, because you usually wore them out,” Stoen said.

He talked about meals that included “a can of Spam, and a bag of crackers and jelly,” as well as canned spaghetti, “John Wayne” chocolate discs and more.

“Most of the time, it was pretty good,” Stoen said, adding that at the mess hall, it was all “regular meals.”

Military life, he said, “makes you realize what’s important and what’s not so important. It gives you self-esteem, so you can go out and accomplish what you want to accomplish… That’s what got all of us guys through basic” training.

“You thought it was terrible at the time, but then you look back and say, ‘Gee, look at all the stuff I learned and how to do it,’ and I probably wouldn’t have learned it until way later in life,” Stoen said.

His proudest moment was attending the NCO Academy in Germany, a professional military program that trains service members to be leaders.

So why did he retire, a student asked.

“My feet hurt,” Stoen laughed.