Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Jason Hale | Don Jarzambek saluting while volunteering with the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office...... read more read more
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By: Spc. Karrimi Mihalek
If you need to reach Don Jarzambek you’ll have to call his landline telephone, he has had the same phone number for 42 years. The 78-year-old Vietnam veteran and retired Director of Veterans Affairs for Kalamazoo County still helps veterans fill out and file paperwork out of his home.
“Every week people call for help filing claims,” said Don. “I’ve got three of them I’m working right now.”
He is no stranger to veterans and the military, he joined the United States Marine Corps at 17. He watched the movie “The D.I.” starring Jack Webb, saw the dress blue uniform and thought, “I want one of those.”
He completed boot camp in the fall of 1960, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), San Diego as an 0311 Infantry Marine. His first duty station was Okinawa, Japan where he lived on an Army Base. It wasn’t long before he was sent on his first deployment to Soc Trang, Vietnam.
Jarzambek described what he learned being a 19-year-old Lance Corporal and being sent into war, “I grew up a lot, you learn to pay attention to people that have a lot more time and experience, and you don’t learn a whole lot while you’re talking,” he said. “You share with troops that you work for and work with.”
After three tours in Soc Trang he was sent back to the states, or ‘back to the world’ as he and the other Marines would refer to it. He was sent to Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California, his final duty station. He served for six years before leaving the military.
Once out of the military he worked several jobs around the country, such as a manufacturing representative for Browning Arms Company in Utah, and even owned his own firearms business in Chicago for a short time.
Eventually Jarzambek landed in Portage, Michigan, where he retired after owning a private consulting company.
After he retired Jarzambek and another Marine veteran started volunteering to help struggling veterans apply for benefits. Kalamazoo County had no real veterans office to speak of and the two people that had been hired to help had recently been caught stealing money intended for the veterans.
Jarzambek and his friend urged the county to fund a proper veterans office, and shortly after the funding came through. His part time volunteering had morphed into full time work and Jarzambek became the Director of Veterans Affairs for Kalamazoo County. He assisted hundreds of veterans get the help that they are entitled to, especially for the veterans that would rather not ask for help.
“The older vets, World War II, Korean War vets and such, they are particularly reluctant to ask the government for help,” Don said. “I mean I would talk to some of these guys and they would tell me stories about how they got shot during the war, but are struggling to afford medication they need now. They shouldn’t have to live like that. These are hardworking people.”
This strong urge to help kept Jarzambek at the job for over 13 years. Now retired for the second time Jarzambek does not have a problem staying busy. Although he can no longer submit paperwork on behalf of other veterans he still guides them on preparing forms needed for the VA. He is also the Captain of the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office Reserve Division and a member of their Honor Guard. He likes to remain busy and he points out that ‘an idle mind is the devil's workshop.’
| Date Taken: | 11.08.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 11.08.2020 23:54 |
| Story ID: | 382627 |
| Location: | PORTAGE , MI, US |
| Web Views: | 104 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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