William S. Zelnicker; World War I Veteran

William S. Zelnicker, a decorated U.S. Army veteran who was awarded the Purple Heart, the Silver Star and France’s Legion of Honor medal for his service during World War I, has died at the age of 101.

Zelnicker, who was among 2.1 million U.S. servicemen who served in France and helped deliver the death blow to Germany and its allies in 1917 and 1918, died Oct. 11 at the Sepulveda Veterans Administration Medical Center.

“He was a very proud veteran,” said his son, Al Zelnicker of Los Angeles, “and very proud of his service in World War I.”

Zelnicker was born in Russia on Oct. 12, 1898, and emigrated as a boy to Providence, R.I., in the early 1900s. He ran away from home at age 17 to enlist. At the Battle of St. Mihiel, the young private stood in a muddy trench and took a deep breath of poison gas, which cost him a lung. He returned to the States and recuperated at Walter Reed Hospital until his discharge in 1920.

Back on his feet, Zelnicker returned to Rhode Island, worked in retail, grocery and dry cleaning businesses, married and became the father of three children.

In 1952, Zelnicker moved his family to California, where he worked in the restaurant industry. He lost a son, Harold Zelnicker, in the Korean War, and his wife, Anna, died a decade ago.

In January 1999, Zelnicker was awarded the National Order of Legion of Honor, the highest medal the French government bestows on its citizens and foreign nationals, during a ceremony at the Sepulveda VA, where Zelnicker resided.

With the award, Zelnicker joined the ranks of legendary U.S. soldiers John J. Pershing, Dwight D. Eisenhower, William Westmoreland, H. Norman Schwarzkopf and Colin L. Powell, as well as civilians who have received the honor.

In addition to his son, Zelnicker is survived by a daughter, Sylvia Hodosh, and a son-in-law, Robert Hodosh, of West Warwick, R.I.; and one granddaughter, Helene Hodosh, of New Jersey.

Funeral services will be held Monday at Shalom Funeral Home in Cranston, R.I. Burial will follow at Lincoln Park Cemetery in Warwick, R.I.