Former St. Cloud State President Selke One Of ‘The Monuments Men’

ST. CLOUD - The movie "The Monuments Men" starring George Clooney and Matt Damon opens in theaters today (Friday).  Before you go see it, you should know there's a St. Cloud connection to the real-life story.

The movie tells the story of a World War II platoon that was given the task of rescuing art masterpieces from Nazi thieves.  More than 345 men and women from 13 countries tracked, located and returned more than five-million works of art stolen during the war by Hitler's men.

One of those men was former St. Cloud State President George Selke.  Selke served in World War II while on leave from the St. Cloud State Teachers College.  He was president at the school for 19 years from 1927 through 1946. Major Selke was on leave from the school from 1943 to 1946 to serve in the war.

Selke field is also of course named in his honor.

Selke died in 1970.

Below is the official trailer for the movie: