World War II Airman Returns Home for Military Funeral

SCHUYLERVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — After nearly 80 years, the remains of World War II Staff Sergeant John A. Tarbert are coming home to Schuylerville, where he will receive a long-awaited burial with full military honors. Tarbert, an Army Air Force crew member aboard a B-24J Liberator, was lost in 1944 during a mission over Germany. His son, John Elliot, has waited his entire life to see his father honored and laid to rest in his hometown.

Staff Sergeant Tarbert’s plane took off from England on September 27, 1944, bound for Kassel, Germany, along with 30 other aircraft. The formation came under heavy enemy fire, resulting in the loss of all but four planes. Tarbert, a man of deep faith, was reportedly praying as the plane went down. Elliot, who was born the same day his mother received news of his father’s disappearance, described the emotion behind that moment. “He was on his knees praying when the plane went down,” Elliot said, visibly moved. “That causes me to choke up. I have emotions about that.”

Although some remains were recovered at the crash site, identification was impossible at the time. Tarbert’s remains were initially held in a mausoleum, then later moved to an American cemetery in Tunisia, marked as “unknown.” This year, however, advancements in forensic technology and the dedicated efforts of the Kassel Mission Historical Society finally confirmed Tarbert’s identity, allowing his family to bring him home at last.

For Elliot, whose last name was changed after he was adopted by his stepfather, the upcoming service is an opportunity to remember his father as “a man of faith and prayer.” That sentiment, he shared, is the legacy he wants his father’s headstone to bear. “Nothing more, nothing less than a hero in the sense that he died for his country.”

On November 8, Staff Sergeant John A. Tarbert will be buried with full honors in Schuylerville, surrounded by family and a community that will finally welcome him home.