Eric Sorensen hosts medal award ceremony for local World War II

EAST MOLINE, Ill (KWQC) – Moline native and World War II veteran Roald Zvonik was awarded several physical medals for the first time for his accomplishments during his time in the military. The event was held at South Moline Township Senior Center in East Moline from 2:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. Friday. 

At 98 years young, Zvonik was awarded the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, an Honorable Service Lapel Pin, and a World War II Victory Medal.

“I finally decided to get them. And I’ve waited a long time for them and my two brothers who didn’t get there’s because they didn’t ask for it. I thought I had to be different. So I asked for mines,” said Roald Zvonik.

But getting the medals to their rightful owner was a fight all on its own says Roald daughter Karen Zvonik Petersen, after she attempted to used the National Archives to track down the medals

“Every time I recheck to see if the medals were there, he kept saying it was in process and process and process. So finally, I’d taken about a year and a half into it, I contact her congressman Sorensen’s office, and they were very helpful. And within about a year, I’m guessing of when they got involved. We had this ceremony today,” said Petersen

Zvonik enlisted in the Navy at 17 years old. His service took him to the Pacific, aboard the USS LST 722 as a 20mm aircraft gunner and he was apart of the surge in the Philippine Island Campaign, making two landings and one invasion. He also spent 6 months in Japan.

President Truman announced Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II, with the formal surrender occurring on September 2nd, 1945. As such, Roald was discharged from the Navy on July 20, 1946.  

Zvonik worked at the Rock Island Arsenal and the US Army Weapons Command, a career that would span three and a half decades. As a civilian, he was deployed to Germany. His next civilian deployment sent him to the heart of the Vietnam War where he was stationed in Saigon.   

In retirement, Zvonik commitment to service found a new outlet in the Rock Island Arsenal Cemetery, volunteering his time and skills to maintain sacred ground for many years.

Zvonik is a 70-year-plus member of Riverside United Methodist Church, a Master Gardner; he participated in the Mississippi Valley Rose Society; and was part of the Community Health Care Board of Directors.   

In 2000, a decommissioned LST, once a stalwart of the Navy, caught Zvonik’s attention and he later joined a group of veterans in Greece to restore the ship to its former glory. The USS LST 325, arrived in the US in 2001. Now a floating museum, it has even graced the waters of the Quad Cities. Roald has performed restoration, maintenance and tour guide duties, and shared WWII stories over his 20 years of service to LST.   

For many people to show up on his special day Roald says it gives him a warm feeling. “I feel very privileged to have so many people here. I really, really, it really does my heart good,” said Zvonik

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