Born on May 11, 1917, in Pocahontas, Illinois, Roger Lee Zeller graduated from the University of Illinois in 1939. Shortly thereafter, he joined the Illinois National Guard and was mobilized with the Horse Cavalry at Camp Livingston in 1940. He applied for air cadet training, was accepted, and entered flying training with the Air Corps. He finished primary training at Hicks Field, Texas, basic training at Goodfellow Field, Texas, and graduated as a pilot and second lieutenant from Brooks Field, Texas, in 1942.
He served in England and North Africa for 14 months with the Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Forces, flying combat missions in B-26 medium bombers from North Africa with the 319th Bomb Group. In a bombing run over Sardinia, he was shot down and spent four months in a prison camp at Chieti, Italy. After Italy capitulated in 1943 and the Germans were moving all prisoners to Germany, he escaped and returned to Allied forces in Southern Italy after 24 days behind the lines. Shortly thereafter, he was returned to the United States and assigned to Laughlin Field in Del Rio, Texas, as a B-26 instructor. In June 1944, he was reassigned to the Headquarters Army Air Forces in Washington, D.C., as an expert on twin engine combat flying until he was discharged in 1946. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star Medal, the Air Medal, the Purple Heart, and the Prisoner of War Medal for his service during World War II.
He remained active in the Air Force Reserve program following the war. He participated in various Reserve assignments until the Korean War when he was recalled to active duty in 1951. He served two years as a Deputy Group Commander and Executive Officer of Lackland AFB, Texas. The positions he held as a Reserve officer included National President of the Reserve Officers Association of the United States from 1956-1957 and a member of the Advisory Policy Board to the Secretary of the Air Force from 1956-1958. He next served as Deputy Commander of the Fourth Air Force Reserve Region at Randolph AFB, Texas, until November 1961 when he took command of the 433rd Troop Carrier Wing, known as “The Alamo Wing,” at Kelly AFB, Texas. He relinquished command of the 433rd in June 1962 and soon thereafter returned to the Inactive Reserve as a brigadier general.
Upon separation from the military service following World War II, he entered the life insurance business, serving as officer and director of several different companies. He later founded Columbia Industries, Inc., of San Antonio, Texas, which became the world’s largest producer of bowling balls. He was selected to the Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Fame in 1995.
He remained active in many civic organizations in San Antonio, such as the Chamber of Commerce, San Antonio Manufacturers Association and the National Bowling Council. He served on the Board of Governors of St. Mary’s University, the Advisory Board of Villa Rosa Hospital, as a director of various banks and for five years as Honorary Consul for South Korea. He was also active with the Reserve Officers Association, the Air Force Association, American Legion, and the Order of the Daedalians.
(Adapted from a biography of Brig. Gen. Roger L. Zeller from a scholarship in his name offered by the Falcon Foundation and supplemented by his self-published memoir (1993), “Seventy-Five Years of Life, Love and Adventure.”)