At noon on Tuesday, Nov. 11, a special Veterans Day ceremony was held at Colorado College. Members of the college and local community gathered at the Earle Flagpole for the special ceremony, honoring all veterans but especially those who attended CC as part of the V-12/V-5 program. As with the eleventh-hour ceremony that takes place on the same day across much of Europe, CC took time to honor veterans of all wars. CC has a proud history with the nation’s military services, with the college playing a prominent role during World War II as a training location for the Navy-Marine V-12 program.

All told, 52 CC students lost their lives in the war and, by the time it ended, nearly 2,000 men had trained with the V-12 program at the college.

One alumnus, John L. Zorack ’46, has long lobbied CC on behalf of the V-12/V-5 veterans, seeking a monument to their service and to this unique time in the college’s history.

Zorack attended CC as an officer candidate with the V-5 Marine Corps Officer Candidate Program, a separate but equally rigorous military training program the college hosted.

Raised in Colorado Springs, Zorack never dreamed of attending Colorado College. The unfortunate circumstances of war allowed him to attend. Enlisting in the war effort in January 1943, Zorack arrived at CC on July 1. During the early years of the war, the campus had been filled with optimism under the leadership of President Charles Brown Hershey. By the time Zorack arrived, however, the mood had changed, and a somber and uneasy community greeted him when he reported for training.

Undergoing a rigorous physical curriculum in addition to his courses, Zorack never saw combat overseas during World War II. Despite a personal preference for English, literature, and creative writing, much of Zorack’s wartime coursework focused heavily on math and physics — subjects seen as more applicable to platoon leadership than the breakdown of a sonnet or the definition of synecdoche.

Zorack graduated from CC in 1946 with a degree in political science. He went on to American University in Washington, D.C., where he received his M.A. in communications, before returning to Colorado to complete his J.D. at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law.

Zorack was a lobbyist and lawyer in Washington, D.C., for more than 30 years. Representing large and small companies, Zorack worked with a variety of legislative areas, including airline transportation, taxation, appropriations, and defense. In his work for the Federal Express Corp. (FedEx) for more than 20 years, he successfully orchestrated a campaign in favor of air freight industry deregulation.

As a recognized national authority in his field, Zorack’s skills have taken him across the country and around the world. Institutions such as Harvard University and Georgetown University have welcomed him to lead seminars and lectures. He has worked with foreign governments, including giving presentations to representatives and committees of the Russian and Israeli governments. His work also has taken him to Vietnam, where he served as an officer in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War; there, he has presented on the need and skills necessary for lobbying the Vietnamese government. His self-published book, “The Lobbying Handbook,” is considered a “bible” for the industry.

Still in regular correspondence with the college from his home in Florida, Zorack remains a voice for alumni and members of the wartime college community.