Pawlentys on the air in Luverne

LUVERNE — While smiling veterans hid their grins, First Lady Mary Pawlenty firmly instructed her husband, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, to describe where he was and who he was with as soon as he got on the phone with renowned filmmaker Ken Burns.

“You have to paint a picture for him with words so he understands we’re here in Luverne,” she said emphatically during a commercial break. “Make sure he knows who we are with.”

The governor and first lady were in Rock County Friday morning to broadcast their weekly radio show, “Good Morning Minnesota.” Before the program started, Mary Pawlenty had asked her husband to explain their affinity for Luverne to his listeners.

“We are joined by a number of distinguished Minnesota citizens, all World War II veterans,” the governor dutifully explained. “Luverne is known for the support and dedication they give to veterans.”

The show was broadcast from the Herreid Military Museum while a dozen or more veterans looked on. Mary Pawlenty explained how she had gotten to know the men after reading an article about their coffee klatch several years earlier.

“I sent out an invitation to coffee and they accepted it,” she said. “They got on a bus and came on up — the start of a wonderful friendship.”

The Pawlentys started the show by talking about their trip to Rock County that morning and how well the crops were doing.

“This is such a beautiful part of the state,” the first lady stated, urging listeners to visit the prairies and vistas of Rock County and southwest Minnesota.

During the one-hour broadcast, the couple visited with Herreid Military Museum benefactor Warren Herreid, who talked about his and wife Jeannine’s decision to make sure Rock County had both a veteran memorial and a museum.

“I was born in Luverne. … When you grow up in rural Minnesota, it gives you a different way of looking at life,” Herreid said.

After his discussion with Herreid and a brief commercial break, Gov. Pawlenty had a conversation via the phone with Burns, who had interviewed several Rock County veterans for his documentary, “The War.”

“I’m going to paint you a picture,” the governor said, smiling at his wife. “I’m here in Luverne with 15 or so veterans, all members of the Last Man’s Club.”

The club, he stated, was something new the men had started. It involves a nice bottle of whiskey or scotch — they hadn’t decided yet — and the last man standing would get the honor of cracking the seal on the bottle to toast his friends.

Burns told the governor and first lady he thinks daily about the people he interviewed for the documentary. He wanted, he said, to show the war from the bottom up, instead of the usual perspective of generals and politics. The hardest part about the interviews was getting a group of veterans who don’t consider themselves heroes to talk about the details of the war — the killing of the enemy and the deaths of friends and fellow soldiers. Americans, he said, fight for ideals, not conquests.

His next project, Burns said, is a documentary about the war in Vietnam — “with God and funding willing.”

In the last few minutes of the radio broadcast, Gov. Pawlenty discussed the recent purchase of the Luverne ethanol plant by Gevo, a privately held renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels company. At the former Agri-Energy facility, isobutanol production is expected to begin by the first quarter of 2012.

“I believe this will be the first plant to do so in the country, possibly even the world,” the governor said.

“Once again,” Mary Pawlenty added, “Minnesota is leading the way.”

Tags: tim pawlenty, news, veterans, luverne, pawlenty