The American Legion Auxiliary Greer Unit #11 honored Merle Stone as their October Veteran of the Month.

Stone is a Veteran of the Vietnam War. He was drafted and served in the Army. Merle began his service on March 8th of 1960 and was honorably discharged March 7th of 1963. Stone was given the option that if he served for three years, he would be able to choose where he was stationed during his service. Stone did his basic training at Fort Carson Army Base in CO. After completing his basic training, he was sent straight to his army job which was radar tracking. Instead of completing classes or any type of formal trade schooling, he was given on the job training to learn radar tracking.

He was not stationed overseas, nor did he see combat. Stone spent his three years of active duty stationed in the state of Washington at Joint Base Lewis-McCord (JBLM). The base was so short on personnel that Merle worked day and night and each soldier had multiple base jobs. One of the highlights of being stationed in WA was that it was a beautiful drastic change of scenery from what he was used to growing up in South Dakota and he was able to go and visit the mountains when he had free time. The climate was much different in Washington as well, but Merle enjoyed the rainy, drizzly weather.

One of Merle’s most vivid service memories happened on his first Christmas Eve while stationed at the JBLM. It was night when the sirens went off, indicating that there was an unknown aircraft approaching the base. It was approaching from the north. The base and personnel were prepared and ready to go on the offensive and shoot down the unknown aircraft if given the orders. The unknown aircraft was identified as Santa Clause, and everyone was told to stand down.

During his years of service, Stone received several medals and ribbons including Expert Marksmanship Rifle, Expert Marksmanship Carbine Rifle and received his basic missile man qualification. Merle was sent to Fort Bliss in TX where he completed his missile training.

When his service in the Army was complete, Stone returned home to Wagner to take over the family farm. In 1978, he met his wife, Juanita while she was trying to set him up on a date with someone else. They have been married for 43 years and have five children Rhonda, Rodrick, Angela, John and Leanne. Stone’s daughter, Angela, served in the Air Force. Merle has nine grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Merle’s hobbies over the years have included camping, hunting pheasants and deer, woodworking, tinkering, reading, raising cattle and hogs and a little bit of farming. Merle has been a very active member of the Wagner community. He is a member of the Wagner Methodist Church, has been a Methodist Church Board Trustee, a Kennedy Township clerk, a Mason for 23 years, part of Eastern Star for 23 years, is an Eastern Star Grand Representative for South Dakota, and a member of the Wagner American Legion Greer Post #11 for the last 35 years. During his years with the Wagner American Legion, he has held every office of the Wagner American Legion, held the State Vice Commander position twice, received the Robert C. Gabrielson Memorial Leadership Award in 2009, was 2013 District Legionnaire of the Year, and has a Certificate of Completion for the Require-ments of the American Legion Extension Institute Course in 2003.

Stone would say to anyone thinking about or interested in joining the military to do it. Being a part of the military will help a person grow up and mature. Experiencing the military will help a young person take charge of their life and give them a lot of educational opportunities.

Thank you, Merle, for your service and for being the October Veteran of the Month.