Second Lieutenant Rudolph James 'Rudy' Zebora, Army serial number O-694997, was born at Meriden, New Haven County, Connecticut on March 27, 1919. His parents were Albert Joseph Zebora (27 Feb 1880 – 30 Dec 1963) and Mary G. Zebora (1885 – 22 Jan 1970), who were born in the former Czechoslovakia. His father immigrated to America about 1904 and his mother about 1903. His parents married about 1906 and became naturalized citizens in 1917. His father was an assembler at Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company; he was later a caretaker at Saint Rose's Church in Meriden, Connecticut.

He had five older siblings: Mary M. (Zebora) Fuller (13 Mar 1907 – 15 Jul 1997), Cecilia R. 'Ceil' (Zebora) Gill (29 Sep 1908 – 11 May 1996), John Joseph Zebora (2 Oct 1910 – 20 Nov 1985), Albert Anthony Zebora (29 May 1914 – 10 Nov 1998), and Joseph Robert Zebora (19 Jun 1917 – 10 Jan 1998). By 1935 the family home was at 15 Hobart Street, Meriden, Connecticut.

He graduated from Meriden High School in June 1937, where he played basketball, tennis, and golf. He went on to Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island. He registered for the draft at Providence on October 16, 1940. He was 6 feet tall, weighed 165 pounds, and had hazel eyes and blonde hair. He completed four years of college and worked as a general industry clerk. He was single when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Hartford, Connecticut on July 18, 1942.

He completed Army Air Forces bombardier training in Class 43-14 at Midland Army Air Field, Texas, and was commissioned there on October 7, 1943. He was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Second Lieutenant Joseph S. Van Dyke. By December 1943 the Van Dyke crew began B-24 crew training at Davis-Monthan Field near Tucson, Arizona. In January 1944 the Van Dyke crew was assigned to the 836th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. There they completed B-24 crew training, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 41-28822 from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Lavenham, England via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe. Here is Lt Van Dyke's crew roster on June 23, 1944:

B-24H 41-28822 – 836th Bomb Squadron

• Van Dyke, Joseph S – 2/Lt – Pilot – KIA

• Thies, Merle J – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA

• Zebora, Rudolph J – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA

• Kraus, Leslie E – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA

• Glenn, James R – Sgt – Ball Turret – KIA

• Crossley, Charles H – S/Sgt – Top Turret – KIA

• Spindler, William H – Sgt – Tail Turret – KIA

• Rupe, Bradford A – Sgt – Nose Turret – KIA

• Snead, John E – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA

Lt Zebora and his eight crewmates were killed in action on June 23, 1944 when their aircraft, B-24H 41-28822, was shot down near Brussels, Belgium after bombing an airfield at Juvincourt, France. The aircraft was hit by flak in the open bomb bay and exploded in the air. It fell in pieces in the meadow of Scheutbospark (Parc du Scheutbos) near the intersection of Kasterlindenstraat (Rue Kasterlinden) and Palokestraat (Rue Paloke), at approximately 50.8539°N, 4.2871°E. This is within the town limits of Sint-Jans-Molenbeek (Molenbeek-Saint-Jean), a western suburb of Brussels, Belgium.

He was buried initially at Evere Cemetery in Brussels, Belgium. His remains were returned to the United States and reinterred at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Meriden, Connecticut in 1949. He is buried in Section 10, Lot 5, Row 3, Grave 3, next to his parents. His brother Joseph Zebora, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, is buried in the same lot.

Note: At least nine other bombardiers who were commissioned with him at Midland, Texas also went on to serve in the 487th Bomb Group. Three of them—Thomas S. Mackie, Stanley A. Slusarczyk, and Cecil J. Smith—were killed in action; and one of them—Vitold A. Zalneraitis—became a prisoner of war.

A memorial to the Joseph S. Van Dyke crew was dedicated at Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium on June 23, 2021. It is located near the crash site in the meadow of Scheutbos. The memorial was made possible through the efforts of Mario Baudewyns of Dilbeek, Belgium and officials of the municipality Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium.

Sources:

1. 487th Bomb Group Association

2. 1920 US Census; Connecticut; New Haven County; Meriden. Zibora, Albert [sic]. 6 Jan 1920 (Albert J. Zebora, his father)

3. 1930 US Census; Connecticut; New Haven County; Meriden. Zebora, Albert. 7 Apr 1930 (his father)

4. 1940 US Census; Connecticut; New Haven County; Meriden; Ward 5; 15 Hobart Street. Zebora, Albert J. 3 Apr 1940 (his father)

5. Army Air Forces Collection of Mike Voisin. Class Book for Army Air Forces Bombardier Class 43-14. Midland Army Air Field, Texas, Oct 1943

6. Baudewyns, Mario (in Dilbeek, Belgium). Personal communication about crash site of B-24 41-28822. May 2020 – Jun 2021

7. Cemetery records of Sacred Heart Cemetery in Meriden, Connecticut

8. Connecticut Death Index, 1949–2001

9. de Jong, Ivo. The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H). Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004

10. Enlistment record of Rudolph J. Zebora

11. HQ, 359th Combat Crew Training School, Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. Special Orders Number 71. 11 Mar 1944 (487th Bomb Group flight echelon orders to proceed from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Herington, Kansas during the deployment to England)

12. HQ, Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona. Special Orders Number 1. 1 Jan 1944 (transfer of fifty heavy bomber combat crews, less navigators, from Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona to the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico)

13. Meriden High School Annual. Meriden, CT. Jun 1937

14. Social Security Death Index

15. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 6263

16. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Nationwide Gravesite Locator

17. U.S. Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925–1963 (ancestry.com)

18. U.S. Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939–1945

19. U.S. War Department. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel. Washington, D.C., June 1946

20. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com)

21. United States, New England Naturalization Index, 1791–1906: Albert Josef Zebora became a naturalized US citizen at City Court, Meriden, New Haven County, Connecticut on 27 Sep 1917. (his father)

22. World War I Draft Registration of Albert Joseph Zebora. 12 Sep 1918 (his father)

23. World War II Draft Registration of Albert Joseph Zebora. 27 Apr 1942 (his father)

Research by:

Paul Webber

Find A Grave member ID 47577572