St. Cloud’s Veteran Rock Nears Completion

(KNSI) – Work on a rock dedicated to the men and women of the armed forces is nearing completion in St. Cloud’s Wilson Park.

The 13.25-ton (27,000 LBS) granite boulder is about 80% covered, and it will be completed over the next few weeks. The stone will sport imagery representing the six branches of the military (Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy and Space Force).

Veteran Rock President Caroline Stringer told KNSI News some of the artwork that still needs to be completed. “We are going to do the oath of enlistment, yet on that side. And then we’re going to add some tanks and helicopters and some different machinery for the different branches to represent all of them. And then we’re going to have the different mottos of the branches on the rock.”

Members of each branch of service are painting the rock.

A dedication ceremony for the rock will take place on November 11th for Veterans Day at the park. The nonprofit group is still working on fundraising and hopes to have enough money to put a shelter over the decorative boulder by the end of spring. To help raise money for the shelter, Stringer says military members can be immortalizied in paving stones. “The pavers are going to be for service members, both past and present. They don’t have to be deceased. I know a lot of people kind of associate memorial pavers with that, but we’re going to have them line the sidewalk, coming into the rock”.

If people would like to help, they can donate to the cause by following the links on their Facebook page.

Stringer is originally from Iowa, where Freedom Rocks line the roads in every county. That inspired her to bring something similar to St. Cloud.