Patriot Guard Escorts 'Fighter Ace' to Final Resting Place
~~ Edmond Zellner Dies As Result of Injures From Accident  ~~
DailyJournal, Park Hills, Missouri/May 06, 2008

FRENCH VILLAGE — A World War II “Fighter Ace” who avoided capture and lived off the land after begin shot down behind enemy lines was escorted to his final resting place this morning by the Patriot Guard.

Edmond Zellner, 86, one of America’s “Greatest Generation” died May 1 as a result of injuries received in an automobile accident. He was 86.

The Patriot Guard is a motorcyclist group comprised primarily of veterans who attend the funerals of members of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Mr. Zellner flew with the 328th Squadron of the 352nd Fighter Group out of Bodney, England. He achieved his “Flying Ace” status after he shot down seven Nazi war planes. That designation is given to pilots credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat.

On his 89th mission, Zellner’s plane, the “We Three,” was shot down behind enemy lines as he was returning from a bombing mission. He was reported missing in action on July 31, 1944.

However, as he reported, “I hit the ground running” and for 34 days he evaded capture and made his way to France where he went underground with the French Partisans until France was liberated.

In a Daily Journal article from 1984, Mr. Zellner told his story in his own words.

He said he enlisted June 14, 1942, with the Aviation Cadets and went into action with the 352nd Fighter Group in July of 1943, flying the P-47 Thunderbolts as bomber escorts.

“It was a miserable airplane,” he said. “It held 205 gallons (of fuel), but burned 200 gallons in an hour. Of the first 15 missions I went on, I never made it back to the base once.

“What we’d do is we’d scrape in on the beach some place in England, put some gas in and go home. We’d also get in a fight and the gas gauge would go ‘flip’ and you’d  be out of gas. There was nothing you could do, and down you’d go.”

Mr. Zellner said his P-51 Mustang was a great improvement as it could fly for six hours without refueling.

“There would be a stream of bombers, as many as 1,000 and it would take an hour or more for them to pass overhead. Our whole group was three squadrons, with 16 escorts. We’d escort a certain division from Hamburg to Berlin and another (group) would escort them past that. It was really something to see.

“Usually, something would attack the bombers and we’d chase the hell out of them. Maybe you’d have 150-200 German fighters come in and attach the bombers head on. They’d split off and we’d chase them, mostly down. If you got them to the ground you could get them. There were a lot of dog fights where there would be four or five of them and four or five of us. We’d be ducking the clouds and they’d be chasing you.

“Other times, if we had time and enough fuel, we’d strafe around on the ground, knocking out whatever we could. We shot up a lot of airfields and things like that. Four of us got credit for shooting down a big bomber. You just emptied all your guns in it and moved on for the next guy so he could do the same. It was a hell of a hard job to do.

“After D-Day, I flew three five-hour missions between Paris and Utah Beach.

“That was tough and I was damn near paralyzed after that. And they had to lift me out of the cockpit.

“I was on my 89th mission when I got hit by flak over Hamburg, Germany. I was at 23,000 feet and one of them hit the engine. And that was the end of it. I nursed the plane along and bailed out at 13,000 feet near the Belgian border.

“In flying school, they had us running 7 1/2 miles every day and then doing an hour of calisthenics. So I ran like hell as soon as I hit the ground and got out of my parachute. I was jumping over fences, running straight through the woods and cross country.

“The wheat was ripe so I’d strip grain off it as I ran through the fields. I dug potatoes and ate them. And I had an escape kit (Emergency Flying Ration). It had malted milk tablets, tablets to purify the water, barley, sugar, chewing gum and pep pills. Also, I had a compass in a seam of my shirt.”

“I swam a couple rivers and had a silk map with me, but I still didn’t know exactly where I was. Out in the country like that, Europe isn’t that big. I didn’t know if I had crossed a border (into neutral Spain or into France) or not.

“There were pens in the woods where they kept the hogs and animals so the Germans wouldn’t get them. After about a month, I finally ran into a guy cutting wood in the forest. He took me into town in his cart and there I got in with the French Underground.

“The wine merchant there was the head of the underground in that section and we’d go out and do different things to try to help the war effort. We’d chop telephone poles, disrupt their communications and throw those spikes out on the roads.

Zellner hitchhiked back toward Paris when Gen. George Patton advanced to where he had been hiding and from there back to his base at England.

“I found out that our fighter group had lost 60 bombers and 600 men the day I was shot down and another 600 men the next day.

“After I was shot down and escaped, they wouldn’t let me fly over Europe again. Their thinking was that if the Germans captured me they would have ways to make me talk and tell them who had helped me.

“So I was sent back to the Pentagon and sworn to secrecy. They moved me around to a lot of different bases after that and they had me training other pilots to go to the Pacific.

“But I think,” he was quoted in 1984, “50 years is time enough to tell the story.”

Up until his death, his daughter, Mary McDowell of Bonne Terre said there were two things that were never far from her father.

In his car he kept his Emergency Flying Ration he had with him behind enemy lines and in his wallet was a membership card for the Air Forces Escape and Evasion Society.

Information for this story was taken from an August 2,1984, article in the Daily Journal.

OBITUARY

Edmond Zellner

May 04, 2008  / Daily Journal, Park Hills, Missouri

FRENCH VILLAGE — Edmond Zellner, 86, of French Village, passed away May 1, 2008 at St. Louis University Hospital of injuries sustained in a car accident. He was born November 23, 1921 in Hazelton, PA.

Edmond was a member of St. Anne Catholic Church. Edmond was a famed World War II Mustang Ace Pilot, Evader and Partisan. He flew with the 328th Squadron of the 352nd fighter group of the Army Air Corps. While flying his missions over Germany his plane “We Three” was shot down by enemy flak fire. He was able to parachute out. He landed in Germany (enemy territory) just 200 yards from a German service road. Edmond was able to evade German ground forces and made it to France where he went underground with the French until Frances liberation.

Edmond then met up with a squadron of the 3rd army and helped liberate French towns. Edmond finally made it to Paris where his orders were to ship back to the States. Edmond later enlisted with the reserves and retired as a Major. Edmond also held a Bachelors Degree in Agronomy from Penn State University. His degree led him to Experimental farming for chemical companies and most recently the University of Missouri.

Preceded in death by Parents, Adam and Anna Zellner; Brother, Clement Zellner and a Son Edmond A. Zellner.

Survived by Wife, Elsie (McAlarney) Zellner of French Village; Daughter, Mary and husband Richard McDowell of Bonne Terre; Sons, Eric and wife Diana Zellner of Summersville, SC, Mark and wife Daria Zellner of Easton, Pa and Dean and wife Patty Zellner of Swansea, IL; Grandchildren, Megan, Makayla, and Makenzie Borchers, Nicole (Zellner) King, Stephanie (Tim) Richards, Daniel, Alyssa, Jacob, Paige, Liam, Jeffrey and Timothy Zellner; Three Great-Grandchildren.

Visitation Monday at 5 p.m. with a Prayer Service at 6 p.m. at C Z Boyer & Son Funeral Home in Bonne Terre. Services Tuesday at 10 a.m. at St. Anne Catholic Church in French Village with Rev. John Schneider. Interment, St. Anne Cemetery with Full Military Honors. Masses are preferred.