“I do a lot of speaking,” said Kowalski, VFW Junior Vice Commander who served in Second World War in the submarine service. “These guys were talking from the heart. That made a difference,” said Kowalski, former professional wrestler and north metro public official.
“I hear people give me rhetoric all the time,” he said. “You can hear the difference in their voice,” said Kowalski. The speakers who drew a good review from Kowalski spoke at a veterans rally held in the Capitol rotunda on Tuesday (Jan. 30). (Photo by T. W. Budig, ECM Capitol Reporter)
by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter
Stan Kowalski liked what he heard.
“I do a lot of speaking,” said Kowalski, VFW Junior Vice Commander who served in Second World War in the submarine service.
“These guys were talking from the heart. That made a difference,” said Kowalski, former professional wrestler and north metro public official.
“I hear people give me rhetoric all the time,” he said. “You can hear the difference in their voice,” said Kowalski.
Kowalski meets with Rep. Lynn Wardlow, R-Eagan, a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer and educator visible in veterans affairs at the Capitol.
The speakers who drew a good review from Kowalski spoke at a veterans rally held in the Capitol rotunda on Tuesday (Jan. 30).
A phalanx of public officials, including Gov. Tim Pawlenty, addressed gathered veterans.
“It doesn’t come easy,” said Pawlenty of the burdens veterans carry for their service. “There are heavy burdens that are placed on individuals and their families when they have to be gone for extended periods of time to serve in the military,” said the governor.
“They leave behind family, they leave behind community, they leave behind their jobs, they leave behind civic commitments, they leave behind their church obligations,” he said. “And it’s a huge, huge burden,” said Pawlenty.
Lawmakers currently are proposing a $75 million veterans benefits package that includes more than 20 different items, noted Pawlenty.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty spoke at the rally, praising those who served in the military but also adding that they carry burdens.
Included are tax exemptions for military pay and retirement pay, an educational supplement to the federal G.I. bill, other benefits.
The governor urged the veterans to talk lawmakers of the sacrifice members of the military are making and have made through history.
“I think we’re on the right track,” said Rep. Lynn Wardlow, R-Eagan, a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer.
Wardlow — as Pawlenty — noted the tax provision contained in the vets’ legisaltive package has some lawmakers wondering about “playing favorites.”
But Wardlow argued that military people often spend long periods of time away from their homes.
Indeed, military service often demands frequent changes of residences from one duty posting to another, he explained.
It can mean moving every year, he said.
(Photos by T.W. Budig, ECM Capitol Reporter)
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