Gainesville — A Gainesville attorney and former serviceman has spearheaded efforts to create a veteran’s monument in the Cooke County Courthouse.

Ed Zielinski, who operates a private law practice on California Street, shared thoughts Friday about his hopes to decorate courthouse walls with the military regalia of slain soldiers.

Among several reasons, he said his project will spotlight the contribution of veterans, which he feels should have as steady a place in contemporary culture as possible.

“They provide a role model for kids in today’s society who often have sports figures or rock stars as heroes,” he said. “They forget that heroism is extraordinary behavior by ordinary people.”

The attorney added that timeline of the military project is unknown, but has found favor with county officials and approval is pending.

“The courthouse is the center of this community and it would be a good place to have that memorial present,” Zielinski said. “Just a little information about these guys, such as a plaque or maybe some medals, or a flag to remember them by. To humanize the person who’s now a name on a wall someplace or a name in a history book.”

Zielinski’s office lobby wall currently sports a display in tribute to U.S. Army Pvt. Joe L. Biffle, a Gainesville native killed by a landmine in Pleiku, South Vietnam, on Jan. 21, 1968. The display includes a certificate and a framed issue of the actual flag draped over Biffle’s coffin, plus his Bronze Star — and the courthouse project, the attorney said, would eventually feature these items and others similar.

It would give them a home in a very fitting place.

“That courthouse represents structure and the concept of government within a free society,” Zielinski said. “The foundation of that free society is met by the blood and sweat and efforts of all these people. They keep that foundation strong; they keep it from crumbling. That’s why we can have courthouses. That’s why we can have access to government. That’s why we can have elections, and that’s why we can have free debate on political debate in this country.”

A history of service

Prior to entering law school, Zielinski was an Army officer. He said he never served in combat, but knew many men who did, and learned from their influence.

“From just being around folks who had to put themselves on the line for this country, that there’s a certain quality that, often times, is neglected,” he said. “People don’t recognize what these people have to do. They give up family, friends and familiar surroundings to go off to some foreign place that they really didn’t decide to go to. But they’re there. And today, it’s even more important because we have an all-volunteer force. Everyone who’s out there is doing it because they want to do it. And I look at the folks who fought — from the War of Independence all the way forward — and the impression I have is that we always stand on the shoulders of these people who are willing to sacrifice themselves. And too often, when you stand on someone’s shoulders, you fail to recognize that they’ve given you that little bit of lift or opportunity that maybe you wouldn’t have otherwise had.”

A volunteer’s conduct

Zielinski cited the case of Biffle, who died at age 19, and was among the Vietnam soldiers who volunteered for duty instead of submitting to a draft. The private was awarded a Bronze Star for valor, and yet medals were almost certainly the furthest thought from his mind.

“He doesn’t go there to get accolaides and glory; he goes there to do his job,” Zielinski said. “And our structure of government is such that politicians and elected officials make the policy of this nation. And soldiers, men and women, implement that policy and absorb the consequences of that implementation. And a guy like Pvt. Biffle gets a Bronze Star, which is a medal of valor. And he got that because he demonstrated by his conduct — and not that anybody was looking, because nobody goes out there and tries to win medals — that he was exemplary in what he did. He died in Vietnam 44, 45 years ago. But when you think about it, what would it have been like for a guy in his twenties to live another 45 years and now be 65 years old, not much older than I am now? He gave all that up. The conscious decision to die for your country isn’t one that someone normally anticipates. But the conscious decision to do your job? That, they do anticipate.”

A young man’s game

On Friday, the attorney cited the maxim, “War is an old man’s sport and a young man’s game.” He admitted that one key factor in a soldier’s bravery is youth.

“There’s an invincibility that comes with it,” he said. “You become more mortal as time goes on. And one of the things that we find, of course, is that the energy and the physical exuberance and the ability of a young person is much better than in an old fossil like myself. But I’ve met a lot of senior officers in my career who have been on those battlefields in their fifties, leading young people and directing what’s going on. Seeing, up close and personal, how they respond. A soldier’s heart is one that is willing to give for his or her country. And those young folks don’t question the authority, because they have been rendered disciplined so that they understand that the chain of command is one that they have to abide by. So when they’re told to take the hill, they take the hill. When they’re told to attack that position, they attack that position. When they defend, they defend. Their efforts are always in that concept of discipline and obedience that renders them the safeguard, the vanguard, the protection, for this nation. Because they’re willing to do that and follow those orders.”

Zielinski added that the true architects of war are older, more experienced people — chess players on a geopolitical scale who direct young troops against enemies.

Dense tactical details, he said, tend to be “above the pay grade” of men and women in combat.

Their role is different, and commonly tragic.

“What they do is get down in the dirt and they fight,” he said. “And sometimes they die.”