Sylvia Cramer Zehala – Lieutenant Colonel, United States Air Force

From a contemporary press report:

On Friday, October 31, 1997, at Scott White Hospital, Temple, Texas, after a long battle with cardiovascular disease complicated by diabetes.

Born May 23, 1921, Hartford, Connecticut, she graduated from school of nursing, New Britain, Connecticut in 1945 and joined Women’s Army Corps. She transferred to the Air Force in 1949.

During World War II and Korean War, she saw duty in the Pacific Sea, Korea, Japan, Italy, England and several stateside posts, most of which was at Wilford Hall Hospital, Lackland AFB. She received a Bachelor’s degree in nursing at Incarnate Word College; master’s degree, in education & counseling from Our Lady of the Lake University, both in San Antonio, Texas.

In 1976, she married Lieutenant Colonel Michael A. Zehala, United States Army (Ret.), a longtime resident of Mosby Woods, Fairfax. In 1989, the couple moved to San Antonio, where Michael died in 1993.

Survivors include three brothers, Edward Cramer of Baltimore, Maryland, Elliot Cramer of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Albert Gelb of Poughkeepsie, New York; four nieces, one nephew, various other relatives in the United States and Israel and a host of close friends in San Antonio and the Washington, DC area.

Services on Monday, January 5 at 1 p.m. at the Memorial Chapel at Ft. Myer. Interment with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. Reception to follow at the Bradley Room, Days Inn, 2201 Arlington Blvd., (Rt. 50).

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard