By Deborah Larsen
Rhio Metzler
Rhio Metzler was born in Detroit, Michigan, on December 6, 1921, the son of Rhio and Alice Creager Metzler. Rhio grew up in Detroit and in Avon Township, where his family lived for a few years on School Road. He married Goldie Stuart of Rochester, Michigan, in 1941.
In May 1943, Rhio entered the U.S. Army Air Forces. He was trained as a flight engineer on the B-24 Liberator bomber and assigned to the 824th Bomb Squadron of the 484th Bombardment Group, operating in the European Theater. On February 1, 1945, Rhio was a crew member aboard a B-24 tasked with bombing an enemy refinery in Austria. His airplane was hit with antiaircraft fire that severed gas and oil lines and flooded the bomb bays with gas spray. Without a parachute or oxygen, Rhio climbed into the open bomb bay to make repairs. He lost consciousness from lack of oxygen and nearly fell to his death, but was rescued by his fellow crew members and revived. He again climbed into the open bomb bay, clothing drenched in gasoline, his upper body burned, and his eyes partially blinded by the gas spray. When he determined that the broken gas line could not be repaired, he held the ends of the hose in frostbitten hands long enough to allow the crew time to prepare to bail out safely. For saving the lives of his crew, Rhio was awarded the Silver Star. He was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart. Rhio was released from military service in October 1945.
After the war, Rhio and his wife raised their family in Oakland County. Rhio worked for Consumers Power Company, retiring after 41 years of service.
Rhio Metzler died at age 81 on September 14, 2003, and was laid to rest at Christian Memorial Estates Cemetery.