Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
A two-time recipient of the Purple Heart is the April Kosciusko County Veteran of the Month.
Chester Scott Zorn II was born in January 1948 in Warsaw to Chester and Viola Zorn as one of six children who grew up with strong family values, Kosciusko County Veteran Service Officer Darryl McDowell said in presenting Zorn to the county commissioners Tuesday morning.
After graduating from Pierceton High School, Zorn answered the call to serve his country by enlisting in the U.S. Army in January 1968. He completed his basic training at Fort Campbell, Ky., followed by advanced individual training at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Demonstrating leadership and dedication, Zorn was selected to attend the Noncommissioned Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Ga., where he successfully earned his place among the Army’s noncommissioned officers, McDowell said.
Upon completion of his training, McDowell said, Sgt. Zorn was deployed to Da Nang, Vietnam, where he was assigned to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry Regiment, 198th Infantry Brigade of the Americal Division.
During Zorn’s service, he displayed “exceptional” courage under fire. Shortly after his arrival in combat, he was wounded by mortar shrapnel and awarded his first Purple Heart. Just three days later, Zorn suffered additional injuries from a “booby trap mine,” earning a second Purple Heart.
Following his injuries, Zorn was medically evacuated from the battlefield and stabilized at the 93rd Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh, Vietnam. McDowell said when Zorn was able, he was transferred to Japan for further treatment before returning to the United States. Zorn continued his recovery at the hospital at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Ill. Due to the severity of Zorn’s wounds, he was granted an early release and honorably discharged in August 1969 as a sergeant.
After Zorn’s military service, he returned home to Kosciusko County where he built a “long and dedicated” career in the medical manufacturing field, McDowell said. Zorn worked in medical device polishing with Hand Industries and later as a polishing machinist and wire operator at Zimmer until his retirement in 2008.
He and his wife, Karen, reside in Leesburg where they enjoy “a well-earned” life together, surrounded by “the quiet rewards of family, community and enduring patriotism,” McDowell concluded.
After being presented his framed certificate, Zorn said, “When I decided to serve my country and go to Vietnam, I didn’t know what I was getting into. As a young kid, I got drafted. I think we got treated fairly well over there. They said that the stuff spraying on trees and stuff wasn’t going to hurt us. That was not true. Agent Orange got us.”
While over there, he said they didn’t hear much from the outside.
“The saying was some gave some and some gave all. And I’ll tell you what, I’ve seen both sides of that, and it wasn’t good,” Zorn said. “When we came home, we weren’t expecting what we got when we came home. We were treated like dirt, and it’s getting better, it has gotten better.”
He said he was just glad to be an American.
“Praise God for my kids, praise God for my grandkids and praise God for my great-grandkids,” Zorn said.
He said he appreciated and was thankful for everything.
