Photo By Cpl. Christopher Johns | Retired Sgt. Maj. Mike Zacker, Secretary of the Board of Directors and docent at the...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. – Some would consider thirty years and one week of active duty service and several combat tours, including four in Vietnam, to be enough for any man in the United States Marine Corps.
However, retired Sgt. Maj. Mike Zacker, secretary of the board of directors and docent at the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum and Historical Foundation, cannot get enough. He and his wife, Margie, not only volunteer at the museum, but also give their time to Toys for Tots.
Zacker provides tours to people of all ages, giving oral histories of aircraft and their pilots from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on days he volunteers, while his wife helps run the museum’s gift shop.
“They down play what their roles are and that’s one of the things that you love about them,” said retired Maj. Gen. Bob Butcher, chairman for the board of directors. “They have significant roles here and they are both outstanding in every way imaginable. One thing that is particularly outstanding about them is that if they say they will be here, they will be here. You don’t really have to worry about them.”
Volunteers make their own hours since they aren’t being paid, explained Butcher. He described the two as completely reliable because they ensure they are on time and stay until it is time to leave.
The museum welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. People throughout the globe come to see Marine Corps aircraft from generations past – and Zacker couldn’t be more ecstatic to share their history.
“The Corps is his first and primary love, that’s first and everything else falls after that,” said Margie. “When younger Marines come in, sometimes up to seven or eight, and get him to start talking they are just mesmerized. He’s happiest when he’s with his Marines.”
Each of the museum’s 70 volunteers have stories and parts of history they love and take pleasure in passing to future generations. Some of these men and women took active roles in the stories they tell – like Zacker.
He left high school his junior year to enlist in the Corps, and during the first 18 years of his enlistment, he knew only aviation. He provided maintenance for helicopters as an aviation technician, and while in Vietnam, he and most of the other members of his squadron became helicopter machine gunners.
“It’s being able to talk to a live piece of history because it’s not history to him, it’s his past,” explained Margie. “What he lived is history to the younger generation. They are getting the chance to talk to people who lived it, experienced it and walked through the fires of hell and came home.”
Whether it was as a junior Marine in his first tour in the jungles of Vietnam, or his tour as the sergeant major of Marine Forces Southwest Asia near the end of Operation Desert Storm, Zacker witnessed pivotal changes in aviation throughout the years.
“I saw Marine Corps aviation from the days of the reciprocating engine all the way through the CH-53E, the most powerful helicopter in the free world,” said Zacker. “I had a great career, enjoyed the heck out of myself and traveled all over the world. I was very fortunate to be in Marine Corps aviation [during] a time when squadrons made history.”
Zacker’s aircraft crew used their helicopters to sweep mines from North Vietnamese harbors such as Haiphong in 1973 to secure the release of prisoners of war. Another time, he flew for 20 hours straight while helping citizens to safety during the evacuation of Saigon.
These were just a couple of the exploits he took part in, but however incredible these feats might have been, all good things come to an end. After retiring in 1993, earning a Master’s degree in business administration and then working almost 10 years, Zacker’s deteriorating health prompted permanent retirement from the workforce.
Zacker decided to use his free time volunteering at the museum, and contributing to the annual Toys for Tots campaign.
“I have 50 years plus of knowledge on Marine Corps aviation that I am very proud of,” said Zacker. “I’m very proud of the museum here at Miramar, and the fact that we are the only aviation museum that the Marine Corps has. I’m proud that we tell the story of Marine Corps aviation going back to 1912 when Lt. Alfred A. Cunningham talked his way into flight training, all the way to the present.”
Regardless of his own accomplishments, Zacker loves to share his knowledge with all who visit the museum, passing on his love for the Marine Corps and the legacy he played a part in.
“It just seems incumbent on me to share this knowledge I have and this love I have of things that fly, especially those that involve Marines,” said Zacker. “I’m proud to have served in the organizations I did, helping to set records and playing the small part that I did, but I’m more proud of the legacy, not only our Corps of Marines, but those Marines in the air.”
| Date Taken: | 09.10.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 09.12.2014 16:58 |
| Story ID: | 141997 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, CA, US |
| Hometown: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 191 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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