Irwin Zaetz ★ World War II Gold Star Veteran from Vermont
On January 25, 1944 First Lieutenant Zaetz was declared a casualty of World War II. ★ He served with honor in the United States Army Air Forces. ★ He is remembered by the people of Vermont. ★ May his positive example inspire us. Working together towards peace, mutual respect, and equality for all.
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Our displayed data concerning the life and military history of Irwin Zaetz is a work in progress. We've assembled a list of elements we are in the process of researching and reviewing. This profile was last edited on 2021-03-22 19:07:54.
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Service Details
This Profile ID | 120627 |
Service ID | O-791661 |
Name | Irwin Zaetz |
From | Burlington, Chittenden County, Vermont |
Birth Date | November 2, 1917 |
Casualty Date | January 25, 1944 |
War | World War II |
Service Branch | Army Air Forces |
Rank | First Lieutenant |
Specialty | Navigator |
Unit/Group | 308th Bomber Group, Heavy, 425th Bomber Squadron |
Casualty Type | Missing in Action |
Location | Arunachal Pradesh, India |
Burial | Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines |
Notable Awards |
★ Distinguished Flying Cross
★ Air Medal
★ Purple Heart |
Remembered |
Irwin Zaetz is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location. |
Additional Details
Irwin G "Zipper" Zaetz was born in Burlington, Chittenden County, Vermont. He was the 4th of the 6 children of Morris Gersh Zaetz and Jennie Picard. Zaetz was a star athlete in three sports at Burlington High School. He was nickhamed "Zipper" because of the way he moved up and down the basketball court. He was known as a sharp dresser, and always a gentleman, careful in saying and doing the right thing.
He had married his high school sweetheart Ethyle Renee Wolfe in 1942. Irwin was living in Chittenden, Rutland County, Vermont when he entered the service.
On January 25, 1944 he was on the crew of the B-24J Liberator #42-73308 "Hot as Hell" when they took off from Kunming Airfield in China during a routine flight to Chabua Airfield in India. They were reported missing with no trace and were officially declared dead on January 26, 1946.
There had been heavy fog the day they disappeared. Five planes flew the same route that day, and all of them crashed. Some crew members on three of the planes survived, however those on "Hot as Hell" and another plane vanished.
On December 7, 2006 the wreck site was located in Damrah, Arunchal Pradesh State, India by Clayton Kuhles of MIA Recoveries. It was in 2015 that the US Defense Department was finally allowed access to investigate the crash site. Identification of remains are being undertaken with advances in DNA analysis.
We identified 8 casualties in our archive related to the #42-73308 incident on January 25, 1944.
◼Irwin Zaetz :: Navigator
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Commendations + Awards
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Please note this might not be a complete or completely accurate accounting. For some awards we use probability factors based on known service details. Thanks for your understanding.
★ Distinguished Flying Cross
★ Air Medal
★ Purple Heart
★ World War II Victory Medal
★ American Campaign Medal
★ Army Presidential Unit Citation
★ Army Good Conduct Medal
★ Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Notable Reference Sources
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Vermont Gold Star Veterans Gallery
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Honoring the men and women of
Vermont who gave their all for their country.
May their example of courage and sacrifice be our guide. To be strong and responsible in our lives as citizens of the world.
Through honest daily actions, we honor them.
▶ Vermont was home to over 1,531
American Gold Star veterans from 4 wars of the 20th Century. Some significant statistics:
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▼ Primary Sources - These are repositories for artifacts, documents, diaries, manuscripts, and other information that serve as original and authoritative sources of information.
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Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
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Ancestry.com
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