Zeasman (b. 1926) was born in Madison, Wisconsin to a large, educated family. Both his parents graduated from the University of Wisconsin, and his father taught agricultural engineering at the University.
Zeasman's older brother, also a UW alumnus, was an engineer at Boeing during World War II, and Zeasman's sister was a WAC. After graduating from Madison West High School in 1944, Zeasman enlisted in the ASTRP program through the University of Illinois, but he was discharged after a semester when he failed his vision test. A year later, Zeasman reenlisted under a fake name with the regular Army. He was in intelligence and reconnaissance training at Fort Walters (Texas) when World War II ended. Zeasman re-upped for three years and served in Korea from 1946 to 1948 with the occupation forces. He went to Korea as a replacement with the 52nd Infantry Replacement Training Battalion, Company D but ended up with ASCOM 24 in "Ascom City" as a clerk general in the Adjutant General's Office. Zeasman was discharged honorably in September 1948 with the rank of corporal. After the war, he attended UW-Madison for a year then transferred to Stout Institute where he married a fellow Stout student in 1952, received his B.S.in industrial education in 1953, and his master's in industrial arts in 1954. Initially working as a teacher in Waukesha, Zeasman became a high school teacher in Mount Horeb where he stayed. Zeasman retired in 1988 after teaching for thirty-four years.
From the description of Oral history interview with James R. Zeasman, [sound recording], 1995. (Wisconsin Veterans Museum Research Center). WorldCat record id: 680064374
