Rudolph James “Rudy” Zebora 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 at Lavenham 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.

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 Scheutbos near the intersection of Kasterlindenstraat (Rue Kasterninden) and Palokestraat (Rue Paloke).

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.

B-24H 41-28822 crew:
• 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

Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com