It started with a name. A quiet plaque on the “Wall of Honor” at Congregation Temple Israel, tucked across from the sanctuary, honoring Alvin Yale Esrock. It was dedicated by his brother, Elmer—and it caught the eye of a staff member, curious to learn more. Who was he? Where did he serve? What happened?
The short answer: Esrock was a Jewish airman from St. Louis who served in World War II—but never made it home. The long answer takes us deep into the skies over the Pacific and the story of a bomber called “Madame Libby the Sea Ducer.”
From St. Louis to the front lines
According to the Jewish Light archives, Alvin Yale Esrock was one of four sons of Ben and Henrietta “Yetta” Esrock. He was born in St. Louis, on Sept. 21, 1919. A mechanic by trade, he was living in the city and single when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces on Aug. 21, 1942, at Jefferson Barracks.
Esrock served as a technical sergeant and radio operator in the 868th Bombardment Squadron, known as the “Snoopers.” The 868th wasn’t attached to any bomber group—rather, it operated under the direct command of the 13th Air Force for specialized radar-guided night missions, according to the “Pacific Wrecks“database and “Missing Air Crew Report“(MACR) 7181.
The final flight
By 1944, Esrock, was flying aboard a B-24D Liberator nicknamed “Madame Libby the Sea Ducer” (serial number 42-40838). The aircraft, built in San Diego by Consolidated Aircraft and converted for night operations, featured pin-up style nose art of a mermaid and a scoreboard beneath the cockpit indicating its successful missions.
Credit: USAAF, 13th AF, 868th BS Date: c1944
B&W
On the night of June 25, 1944, the crew took off from Mokerang Airfield on Los Negros Island in the Admiralty chain. Their mission was a solo “snooper” raid over Truk Lagoon, a heavily defended Japanese base in Micronesia. According to MACR 7181 the crew made four radio check-ins. The final message was received at 2:26 a.m. on June 26, reporting their coordinates over the open sea. Then, silence.
The bomber never returned.
According to the American Battle Monuments Commission, the entire 10-man crew was declared missing in action and later officially pronounced dead on Feb. 20, 1946. No wreckage was ever recovered.
Esrock is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines. His awards include the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters and the Purple Heart, as noted by the “National Gold Star Veterans Archive” and “DPAA military casualty records.”
Remembered at Temple Israel
His brother Elmer, who also served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II and lived to be 102, made sure his brother would be remembered—right there in the building where generations of St. Louis Jews have prayed, learned and honored their history. The gold plaque at Temple Israel is more than metal. It’s memory.
Jewish War Veterans Memorial Day Ceremony
This Memorial Day, may we pause not just for the names we know, but also for the ones rediscovered—like TSgt Alvin Yale Esrock, a son of St. Louis who flew into history and left behind a legacy we’re still learning to tell.
Esrock’s name, along with those of other Jewish men and women from the greater St. Louis area who died in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Global War on Terrorism, will be read aloud—alongside the names of local Jewish veterans who passed away in 2024.
This year’s Jewish War Veterans Memorial Day ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 25, at 11 a.m. at the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, and will feature special tributes and community honors.
- Keynote speaker: Rabbi Michael Alper, senior rabbi at Congregation Temple Israel
- Musical and memorial prayers: Cantor Emeritus and Rabbi Ronald Eichaker of United Hebrew Congregation will perform the National Anthem and chant “El Malei Rachamim.”
Two scholarships will be awarded during the ceremony:
- The Ted and Rachel Pevnick Family Scholarship will go to Max Radovilsky, a 2025 graduate of Marquette High School who plans to attend the University of Missouri, Columbia
- The Chuck Sandroff Scholarship will be awarded to Anna Zwibelman, a 2025 graduate of Parkway North High School who plans to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
