Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: He kaitohutohu o te kura tuarua o B.M.C. Durfee i te tau 1933, i haere a Zais ki te Whare Wānanga o New Hampshire, a, i puta ia ki te Karahipi o te Toi i roto i te Pūtaiao Pūtaiao. I tana tau tuatahi, i ako ia i te Whare Wananga o Louisiana State hei kaihautū nūpepa i mua i tana whakawhiti ki UNH. I te tau 1937 i whakawhiwhia ia hei tuarua tuarua ki te United States Army Reserve. I te tau 1940 he mema ia o te roopu Parachute taketake i muri mai ko te 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment. I te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, ko Zais te rangatira o te 3rd Battalion, a, i muri mai, he rangatira whakahaere o te 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment, e whawhai ana i Itari, i
ki te tonga o Wīwī, me te Pakanga o te Bulge.