John Allen Tarbert

 John Allen Tarbert, airman killed on a bombing run in World War II, September 27, 1944, has been accounted for. Using DNA donated by John Tarbert's son, John Elliott of Schenectady, NY and nephew, John Mezger of Carlsbad, NM, scientists of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) and scientists of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System identified the remains in May 2024.

 John Allen Tarbert was born in Port Deposit, MD on September 6, 1920, the son of John Coulson and Mary Belle Tarbert. He attended the Jacob Tome Institute in Maryland. Football was his favorite sport, and journalism was his favorite subject. He enjoyed art. He was fond of pencil sketches. He enlisted in the Army on June 28, 1939. He spent three years in Panama in the Signal Corp as a teletype operator. He transferred to the Air Corp and came to the United States. He met his wife, Jenevieve Judd, when stationed at Fort Lowry and they were married November 4, 1943. He was trained in the gunner schools and went overseas in May 1944. He was assigned to the 703rd Bombardment Squadron, 445th Bombardment group and was based in Tibenham, England. He served as the waist gunner on a B-24 Liberator. On September 27, 1944, while on a bombing mission to Kassel Germany, John's plane was shot down and it crashed near Ochlendung near Mayen, Germany. His remains were buried as an unknown airman in the cemetery at Bassenheim, District of Mayen.

 Efforts were made in 1945 and 1951 to identify the remains, but no identification could be made. In 2015, the request to disinter for the purpose of performing DNA analysis was approved. In 2015, the remains were disinterred, and in 2024, DNA technology enabled the remains to be identified as those of John Tarbert.

 Surviving family members celebrating his homecoming are his son, John Elliott, stepdaughter Lovilla Dunlap; nephews, John, Kenneth, and Charles Mezger; grandchildren, Paul and Crystal Elliott, step grandson Jon Elliott, step grandchildren Jennifer Hines and Luke Dunlap; grandniece Tracy Carr and grandnephew John Brian Mezger; and great grandchildren, great grandnieces and great grandnephews.

 John Tarbert's long-awaited homecoming with full military honors will be held on November 8, 2024, at 2:00 p.m., at Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery in Schuylerville, NY.

Memorial contributions may be made to Lakeview Christian Home, 1905 W. Pierce, Carlsbad, NM 88220.