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VOL. 2/ISSUE 8
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2013
Veteran Vanguard: Marty Zickert Patrick McCallister For Veteran voice
patrick.mccallister@yahoo.com
Editor’s note: Veteran Voice has the privilege of meeting, interviewing and writing stories that involve many area veteran leaders. Their names repeatedly appear in our stories, always followed by “said.” We’re launching an occasional series, Veteran Vanguard, to introduce readers to the wonderful men and woman that contribute so much to veterans, communities, and our stories. This week we’re featuring Marty Zickert. Our affectionate nickname for him is “Z.”
Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer Marty Zickert, right, president of the Veterans Council of Indian River County, speaks to fellow veteran John Darling at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum, Fort Pierce. Zickert never intended to become a local veterans leader, but fate had other ideas. There he ran into Eric “Rip” Weiler, then president of the Veterans Council of Indian River County. Weiler had an eye for talent, and a smooth tongue. Zickert blindly walked into the proverbial spider’s web. “He asked me if I would be a (parliamentarian for the council),” Zickert said. “I said, ‘Sure, for six months I’ll do that. “I found out
later that he told his wife, ‘I just found the next president of the veterans council.’” That was about four years ago. “The next year, (Weiler) said, ‘I’d like you to get involved with Veterans Day and Memorial Day (events planning) and then I was a vice president,” Zickert said. “The next year, they said, ‘Congratulations, you just got a new
job.’” Zickert’s inspiring words to launch his presidency of the veterans council were, “Huh, what?” In addition to planning events at Vero Beach’s Veterans Memorial Island Sanctuary, the council took the lead in the local Veterans Transportation Network. The
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Col. Marty Zickert, United States Air Force, retired, is among the rare breed: a mustang. An officer who’d started his military career as enlisted. The 72-year-old had been out of the military for a couple decades running a financial planning business when he got suckered into recruiting a community to help veterans more. He lives in Vero Beach. “When I was in Pensacola, I had been the president of (the Military Officers Association of America chapter),” he said “When I came here, I decided I’d drop out of that thing and just be a whiner.” That was in 2001. His wife, Penny, could only take so much of his groaning about veterans getting a raw deal. “She stood that for quite a while, and she finally said, ‘Look, if you going to do that, why don’t you get involved?’” Zickert said. His idea of getting involved was going to a veterans luncheon.