Veteran Salute: Fighting fires with the reserve and making an new all-veterans memorial in Lebo

LEBO (KSNT) – Lebo native and resident, Thomas Zink, served more than two decades with the U.S. Army. 

Zink joined the army reserves in Emporia back in November of 1969 just after marrying his wife at 19-years-old. Not being too enthused about going to Vietnam, Zink enlisted with the reserve unit for the next five years.

After moving to Mankato, he joined another reserve unit in Washington, Kansas, that happened to be firefighters.  

“One year we were in Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, and we got called out to a forest fire,” Zink said. “A civilian chain called the military and asked for assistance. So we got to take our fire trucks that was in the military and go help the civilians fight the forest fire. There’s a lot that goes into fighting forest fires. And you’re on kind of the back end of the situation because that fire will tell you what you have to do.”

And that’s where he stayed for 19 years, getting to travel all over the nation and work with firefighters on the post. But now, as a retiree, Zink resides in Lebo with his wife and is part of the local American legion post. 

Zink shared what he and the legion are currently working on. 

“Well, we’re trying to get started on the all-veterans memorial over here on a corner, and we’re just about to get enough money in the budget to get that thing started,” Zink said. “We had a little memorial over there to the six guys that lost their lives from Lebo in World War II. And it was just getting overgrown, the trees and had been there for years. And we decided, you know, we need to upgrade that thing. ”

Zink and the American Legion in Lebo hope to get started on the project as soon as they raise the funds to bring in the equipment. 

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