Justin Kirkland found and purchased a 48-star American flag at an antique auction in Waynesville several years ago. Through the help of the Swain County Historical and Genealogical Society, the story of the soldier who this flag honored was discovered. A plan to return the flag to his hometown of Marion, Ohio is in the works.
The flag was draped over the casket of WWII solder 1st Lt. Walter L. Ruzzo, who was killed in action. He was buried in a U.S. military cemetery in the Netherlands. Kirkland wanted to learn more and asked his grandmother, Verna Kirkland, who works at the Swain County Historical and Genealogical Society for how to find out more, and she got him in contact with David DeHart.
““This is what I love to do,” DeHart said. “I really wanted to dig into this story because this was a WWII Soldier. I am a retired US Army Vietnam combat veteran and my Dad was a WWII veteran, so this is very important and dear to me.”
Walter L. Ruzzo was born to Italian immigrants in Marion, Ohio. His father was a barber and his mother was a beautician. He had one older brother, Edward, and a younger brother, Frances, both of whom would also go on to serve in the war.
Ruzzo studied journalism at Ohio State University and joined the Army Air Force in May 1942 and trained at Santa Ana, California. He married Rose Margaret Evans on July 20, 1943, whom he had met in college. The ceremony was at Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Evans was also from Marion, and her parents were Austrian immigrants. In August 1943, Russo shipped overseas.
In the war, he was a navigator and co-pilot on a C-47, a military transport aircraft. Military records show that he flew the C-47 troop transport plane over Sicily during the early stages of WWII in what was called the Sicilian Invasion and Sicilian campaign where paratroopers were dropped.
He received the Air Medal for combat service over Italy, the Mediterranean Theater Medal for submarine patrol and a Star for his African Theater Medal for action in the Sicilian campaign.
On March 24, 1945, a report was filed by an eyewitness account when the C-46 plane Ruzzo was on was last seen and assumed crashed.
Operation varsity was the First Airborne Operation where the C-46 airplane was used for dropping paratroopers. The C-46 could carry double the number of paratroopers that a C-47 could carry. The exit time for the paratroopers was greater because the C-47 had two exit doors, one on each side of the plane. The 313th Troop Carrier Group had the honor to use the C-46 in this combat operation. The group was based at Achiet, France.
The four squadrons were divided into two serials. The 49th Troop Carrier Squadron was leading in Serial A-5, followed by the 29th Troup Carrier Squadron. The next serial, A-6, was flown by the 48th Troop Carrier Squadron and, as last in the line, the 47th Troop Carrier Squadron. Each consisted out of 36 aircraft. The two squadrons in Serial A-6 did dispatch 18 aircraft each. The 48th Troop Carrier Squadron planes had a chalk number 36-54 (18 aircraft).
Eyewitness account: “I, Lt. Glen H. Smith, was flying on the right wing of the C-46D airplane piloted by Lt James F. Claussen. After they had dropped their Paratroopers on the DZ (Designated Zone) they made a right turn-off and the airplane was last seen my me with the left engine on fire heading back toward the Rhine River. The airplane, chalk #52 was under good control and about 100 feet off the ground.”
There were five crewmembers on board. Pilot James F. Claussen, co-pilot Rubin Levy, navigator Walter L. Ruzzo and radio operator George J. Kuhn were killed in action. Only T/SGT Charles L. Williams, crew chief, survived. He was partially out of the side escape hatch when the aircraft crash-landed, and as a result he was thrown clear of the wreckage and unconscious. German medics carried him, seriously wounded, to a cellar, dressed his wounds and departed.
In addition to Lt. Walter L. Ruzzo’s medals, he was also awarded the Purple Heart. He was laid to rest in the American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands alongside of 8,291 fallen soldiers of war. This flag found by Kirkland years later is called a “burial casket flag” and was the flag that covered his casket before burial.
“His flag was packed into this box that I am holding and was sent to Rose Margaret Ruzzo, his wife that was living in Columbus, Ohio with her parents at the time he was killed in action,” DeHart said. The box is postmarked May 1949.
It’s likely Rose never saw her husband again after he shipped out. It seems she never remarried and she lived to the age of 95 until her death on Feb. 18, 2013.
Walter’s older brother, Edward, survived the war and had a successful career in law. became Judge Edward James Ruzzo and the city of Marion named a detention center in his name. His brother Frank became a senior partner in an accounting firm in Santa Clara, California.
DeHart is planning a trip to Ohio to present the Marion Historical Museum with the flag and share his research.
“As a 28-year career U.S. Army and Vietnam Combat Veteran and the vice president of our genealogy society in Bryson City, this will be an honor to take this flag home,” DeHart said. “Most of all, a special thank you to Mr. Justin Kirkland who made all of this possible by finding this so very special flag.”