BALTIMORE — Another missing World War II soldier from Maryland is set to receive proper burial.
U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. John A. Tarbert was killed in battle on September 27, 1944.
The 24-year-old Port Deposit native was gunned down while flying over Bassenheim, Germany in a B-24J Liberator.
Tarbert was assigned to the 445th Bombardment Group, deployed around the European Theater.
None of the six surviving crew members saw Tarbert exit the crashing plane, and there was no record of anyone on-board being taken as prisoner's of war.
In February 1946, the American Graves Registration Command, scoured the region to recover U.S. soldiers who remained unaccounted for following the war. While it appeared local villagers removed and buried some soldier remains from the downed aircraft, there was still no sign of Tarbert.
By 1951another recovery team visited the crash site and discovered the remains of two soldiers from a nearby crater. Unable to identify them at the time, the military decided to bury their remains in what's now known as the North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial in Carthage, Tunisia.
In September 2022, the remains were dug back up and sent to a lab to undergo DNA analysis.
To identify Tarbert, scientists used anthropological analysis, using Y chromosome and autosomal DNA.
His family has since been notified, with burial scheduled for October 8 in Schuylerville, New York.
Two other Maryland soldiers who went missing around the European Theater during World War II have also recently been identified.
