A U.S. Army Special Forces veteran who served in the Vietnam War, Purple Heart recipient Tim Boone, of Warsaw, is the May 2024 Kosciusko County Veteran of the Month.
In presenting Tim at the Kosciusko County Commissioners meeting Tuesday, Veteran Service Officer Darryl McDowell mentioned that the reason Tim lives here is because his wife, Linda Snyder Boone, is from Kosciusko County.
“That’s the amazing part about this county, is that no matter how many depart, a large quantity of them seem to come back just because of the atmosphere,” McDowell said.
Tim was born in 1945 to Arthur M. and Lillian M. Boone and has three siblings. He graduated from North Salinas High School, Salinas, Calif., in 1963. Prior to joining the military, his jobs include actor and NCR cash register mechanic.
In October 1965, Tim joined the military, and was immediately sent to Ft. Ord, Calif., for basic training. For advanced training, he was sent to Ft. Lee, Va.; followed by Ft. Moore, Ga., for OCS (officer candidate school) with the class of 67-2. He graduated in December 1966. His military assignments included Ft. Ord, Ft. Lee, Ft. Moore, Ft. Liberty, Sakon Nakhon, Camp Hunky in Thailand; Lopburi, Thailand; and Nha Trang, Vietnam.
Tim was discharged in November 1976 as a captain.
His service awards include Combat Infantryman Badge, two Bronze Stars, three Air Medals (V), Meritorious Service Medal, Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Vietnamese and Thai awards and Master Parachutist Badges.
“The career after military interesting piece here is Organization Development and Leadership Effectiveness consultant and executive coach. In conversations I can still sense that piece there in his demeanor and his conversations,” McDowell said.
Tim also has been involved in emergency preparedness and planning and emergency medical services.
He and Linda married in 1975. They have two children, Jenny Placente and Conor Boone, and six grandchildren.
Tim’s hobbies include building and shooting 18th-century American long rifle flintlocks, McDowell said.
Some of his volunteer service include Warrior-2-Citizen; he’s the president of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association Military Affinity Group; and school governance teams in Marietta, Ga., schools.
After receiving his certificate for being the county Veteran of the Month for May 2024, Tim said, “Thank you very much. I appreciate the honor and privilege to be able to live in Kosciusko County, thanks to my wife. We discovered her down in Indianapolis a number of years ago, after she went off from here.”
He said it’s been particularly interesting growing up in California, but in small town California. “But coming here in the summertime, we’ve always come to Steve and Pat’s place in the summer, at least every other year. Get some nice lake weather and everything up here. As we’ve gotten to know the county over the years, it became more and more our home when we were living other places. This was coming home, so it only seemed like the appropriate thing to do this last year was that, ‘We can do this! Let’s go do it!’ This is a real move of choice is to be here. Looking forward to it. We’re enjoying getting to know everybody.”
He said they hope they will be able to contribute to the county in some meaningful way.