Aircraft History
Built by North American in Inglewood, California. Constructors Number 122-31183. Delivered to the U. S. Army. Disassembled and shipped overseas to the Central Pacific and reassembled.

Wartime History
Assigned to the 7th Air Force, 21st Fighter Group, 72nd Fighter Squadron. No known nose art or nickname. When lost, engine V-1650-7 serial number V-327749. Weapon serial numbers: RI-1331165, LC-1502584, RC-1330813, LC-1330790, RO-1331235, LI-1764888.

Mission History
On June 2, 1945 took off from Motoyama No. 1 (Chidori, Central Field) on Iwo Jima, flying as wing man for 1st Lt. Clyde M. Decker on a dive bombing mission against Chi Chi Jima. The weather was good visibility with 8/10 cloud coverage with tops at 8,000' down to sea level. Failed to rejoin formation after dive bombing the target and clouds obscured any observation of his crash. Flight leader 1st Lt. Clyde M. Decker called for him over the radio but got no reply.

Search
Afterwards, Air Sea Rescue service and 7th Fighter Command both unsuccessfully searched for this aircraft. A large splash observed at the mouth of the bay was investigated, but no smoke, fire, debris or oil slick was observed.

Memorials
Zellweger was officially declared dead the day of the mission. He is memorialized on the tablets of the missing at Honolulu Cemetery (Punchbowl).

References
Missing Air Crew Report 14715 (MACR 14715) created on June 3, 1945

Contribute Information
Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned?
Do you have photos or additional information to add?

Last Updated
June 29, 2019