Seymour Ellenhorn

Seymour Ellenhorn of Chestertown, MD, passed away on December 27, 2020, at Heron Point of Chestertown. He was 96. Mr. Ellenhorn was born on April 24, 1924, in Brooklyn, NY, the son of the late Carl and Ida Semelmacher Ellenhorn. Mr. Ellenhorn was a veteran of the United States Air Force. He graduated the Manhattan High School of Aviation Trades in 1943. His military education included Airplane Armorer in Buckley Field and Lowery Field, CO, as well as Arterial Gunnery in Laredo, TX. He went on to serve as a gunner for the 464th Bombardment Group, U.S. Army Air Corps in Italy from 1943-1945. He received two Air Force Technical School diplomas: one in Aircraft Armorer (Bombardment) on August 31, 1943, and another in Aircraft Cannon on September 4, 1943. He completed training at the 213th Combat Crew Training Station, in Mountain Home Airfield, Mountain Home, Idaho, in 1944. Mr. Ellenhorn received the Purple Heart Award on the 30th of December 1944. He made his mid-winter plunge in the sea when the 15th AAF Liberator ran out of gas returning from a mission deep in enemy territory. “Weather has held up the formation, and finally we had to bomb a secondary target,” said Ellenhorn, “but for some reason or another we were burning gas at a rapid rate. We were half-way across the Adriatic heading home when the engine started to miss.” With the Italian coast 30 miles away and the gauges dropping to empty, a convoy was sighted. The Liberator dropped from the formation and started heading for a water landing. “The pilot put it up to us,” said Ellenhorn, parachute or ride the plane down. There wasn’t anything that the gunners could do except pray and a B-24 doesn’t even look like a duck, so we bailed.” Just before he hit the water, Ellenhorn slipped out of his harness and inflated his Mae West. “I bounced around in the drink for about 25 minutes,” continued Ellenhorn, “before a British Escort vessel nosed in to pick us up and by that time I was colder than a Flatbush Avenue loan shark’s heart I was shaking more than a couple of jitterbugs at Roseland.” After his service, he worked as a Gunsmith in Manhattan for over 40 years before retiring in 1987 and moving to Chestertown, MD in 1990. Mr. Ellenhorn is survived by two sons, Eric Ellenhorn and Cory (Beverly) Ellenhorn, as well as three grandchildren, Amy, Zachary, and Zoe Ellenhorn. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Mr. Ellenhorn’s name to the Wounded Warriors Project. https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org. A graveside service will be held in Shrewsbury Cemetery in Kennedyville, MD, on Sunday, January 10, 2020, at 1:00 pm.

Seymour Ellenhorn

April 24, 1924 - December 27, 2020