Positivity: Daughter’s tenacity gets WWII vet his medals

A great Father’s Day story from Sullivan, Wisconsin:

….. a daughter’s tenacity has yielded a heartfelt gift for her 85-year-old dad, a World War II veteran who saw fighting at Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge, as well as other storied European sites.

When Donna Burns of Watertown learned her father, Leon Zimdars, 85, of Sullivan, was nominated for the Army’s Bronze Star and never received it, she took aggressive action. This resulted in Zimdars receiving the even more prestigious Silver Star and other medals, as well. The task of obtaining the awards for her father, however, was more difficult than Burns had imagined.

….. “My dad had received a phone call from an Army buddy who asked if he had ever received his Bronze Star, for which this fellow had nominated him. My dad’s Bronze Star kept coming up in conversation with him after that, so I knew it was something important to him, so I started researching it.”

Burns contacted military officials and learned many WWII veterans did not receive their medals until well after the conclusion of the war, if at all. This was due, in part, to metal production being diverted to the war effort. She said there was another more vexing concern for her father. His last name started with the letter “Z,” which meant his military records were among those destroyed in a fire at a St. Louis government repository some years back.

“So I was on the phone and e-mailing, trying to track things down for him,” Burns said. “He almost had his head shot off and they are telling me they lost his records?”

Burns said she received help from the Jefferson County Veterans Service Office and luckily her father had long ago registered his discharge papers with the Jefferson County Register of Deeds.

Burns said she did more detective work toward validating her father’s Silver Star by contacting a 92-year-old former commanding officer of her father who lived in Winter Spring, Fla. Another connection was made with a commanding officer in South Dakota and the ball started rolling more promisingly for Burns. These efforts resulted in a signed affidavit from one of the commanders, who vouched for Zimdars’ meritorious service - a huge step toward Zimdars receiving his medal.

“One thing I will say is no one hung up on me, even though they might have thought I was crazy,” Burns said of the phone calls she said were sometimes random to small towns in the U.S. where she suspected her dad’s comrades might still reside.

“This was a two-year escapade,” she said, adding no one she ever dealt with from the military or civilian realms was ever rude to her.

After this lengthy investigation, the medals were finally delivered by military personnel to Burns’ home on a Saturday morning this spring. She immediately had the awards matted and framed.

Burns said the Bronze Star was awarded to 112 servicemen in Zimdars’ battalion. He was, however, one of only nine who received the higher honor of a Silver Star Medal for his efforts with the 30th Infantry, 531st Battalion. The Silver Star was awarded to Zimdars for gallantry and service in Normandy, France, and other battlegrounds. It was there that he provided transportation for personnel and helped move supplies, weapons and injured soldiers while under fire.

It has been noted by the U.S. Army that less than 10 percent of soldiers participated in all five European Theatre of Operation Campaign battles, as did Zimdars.

In addition, Zimdars received an NCO Professional Driver/Mechanic Award; Marksman Award for Machine Gun/Rifle/Bayonet; WWII Victory Medal; Army Distinguished Service Medal; Army Good Conduct Medal; Honorable Discharge “Ruptured Duck” Award; Presidential Citation for the Normandy Invasion in June of 1944; Army Meritorious Unit Citation for Battle of the Bulge and breaking through German Nazi lines at Mortain; American Campaign Award with one oak leaf attachment for service on American soil and the European/African/Middle Eastern Campaign Award with five service stars for battles at Normandy, the Ardennes and Central Europe.

Zimdars’ time in the Army ran from November of 1942 to October of 1945 and he recalled he was sent home from Europe before his military records could even catch up with him. This made receiving the medals difficult.

“It was just a matter of fact that, when it came time for me to get out, the Army wanted to get rid of us as fast as possible. They said, ‘Have a good day and goodbye,’” Zimdars said this week with a laugh.

Modestly calling them “ancient history,” Zimdars said he appreciates finally being recognized with the honors for gallantry and service.

He said soldiers had to apply for their medals and that, to him, it seemed the Army “didn’t really care” whether they got them or not. He said the Army may not have bargained for meeting his daughter.

“My daughter saw my discharge papers,” Zimdars said, “and telling my daughter that something can’t be done is like talking to a wall. She dug and dug, and the Army prioritized her request because she hassled them so much.”

Zimdars admitted this week he never thought he’d see the medals he earned and appreciates his daughter’s never-say-die attitude.

“No, it really was ancient history as far as I was concerned,” he said, adding the military gave him “the whole nine yards” during his service. “We were chasing Hitler all over the place.”

Zimdars was honored, but also amused that his medals were delivered more than 60 years late by a uniformed delegation from Camp Douglas.

“It was probably the same bunch that comes to tell people you died,” he said. “It is quite interesting,” he added of his assemblage of awards.

Miraculously also, Zimdars never earned a Purple Heart because he was never hit by enemy fire, although buddies riding in a jeep with him were shot.

“I was never hit, but I had the daylights scared out of me several times,” he said.

Burns said with her dad reaching age 85 recently, she did not like to hear it might take the Army four years to issue the medals after she worked hard and fast to see results.

“I wanted to do this while he was still alive, so I asked them what they could do to facilitate this being rushed,” Burns said. “It took from my completion of paperwork in October until this spring to get the medals to my dad.”

She said when she saw the medals arrive she was relieved and thrilled. She said a side benefit of her research comes when her father is able to step back into his own history with the perspective of more than six decades on an event that shaped today’s world more than any other.

“I’ve got ringed binders of stuff I pulled and my father reads this,” Burns said of her accrued research material. She added she was able to have contact with an Army historian and the result of her study is that her father “is re-fighting all his battles in the last three weeks” while going through all the information.

Burns said although her father has kept some of his war experiences to himself over the years, she can see he is very proud of his service and she said his eyes grew teary when he was presented with his medals.

“It was emotional,” she said. “And what has been funny is that, since I started researching, dad has made comments that he didn’t realize the total picture of what he was doing at times in the war. He said sometimes he was doing his own thing in one position or spot and he never realized the scope of the battles. This has put a complete picture together and brought it full circle for him.”