EAST MOLINE, Ill. — After nearly 80 years, a World War II veteran is getting the medals he earned for his service, but never received.
Roald Zvonik spent two years on a boat in the Asiatic-Pacific theater, battling Japanese submarines and planes to help liberate the Philippines.
He talked about his near-misses, including a time when he heard machine gun fire, but was out of firing range.
"Submarine torpedoed the guy next to us. At least he only shot once," Zvonik said.
After leaving the Navy, Zvonik continued his involvement with the military. He worked at the Rock Island Arsenal and U.S. Army Weapons Command for more than 30 years. He also volunteered at the arsenal's cemetery for decades and made civilian deployments to Germany and Vietnam.
Officially, he earned six medals, including one for honorable service and one for Philippine liberation. But he never got the physical medals.
That's because Zvonik was discharged at the same time as 16 million other soldiers.
A few years ago, Zvonik's daughters Karen Zvonik-Petersen and Barb Zvonik-Siefker started working to get their dad the medals he deserved.
"I had contacted the National Archives [...] probably about two and a half years ago and put in a request for his medals," Zvonik-Petersen said. "And every time I checked we to see if the medals were there, it kept saying it was in process, in process, in process."
After a year and a half of waiting, Zvonik-Petersen contacted IL Rep. Eric Sorensen's office for help. She said the medals were delivered within the year.
Zvonik-Siefker said it was a big day for her family.
"it means a lot to us. He has wanted these medals, like Karen said, for years," Zvonik-Siefker said. "And today was the fruition of a lot of people's hard work to be able to pin them on Dad today."
Zvonik said he was ready to get his honors.
"I finally decided to get them," Zvonik said. "And I’ve waited a long time for them, and my two brothers didn’t get theirs, because they didn’t ask for them. So I had to be different, so I asked for mine."
Plenty of people were there to share the moment. South Moline Township Senior Center was packed to the gills for the medal ceremony. Zvonik-Siefker said they started with 15 chairs, then eventually had 100, and there was still only standing room.
"I feel very privileged, to have so many people here, I really do," Zvonik said. "Really, it really does my little heart good."