Memorial

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2nd Lt John F. Lubben worked in a paper and pulp factory.

He joined the Regular Army in Wausau, Wisconsin on 31 October 1940 and received his commission at Luke Field, Arizona on 6 February 1941.

The mission took place on 12 December 1944.

Statement from 1st Lt Eugene M. Van Antwerp:
"We were going to the target on a 360 heading, bomb bay doors open, when the pathfinder nosed into a snow storm. We continued flying approximately three minutes until the E.T.A. of the target was passed. The box leader made a left turn to approximately a 270 heading. After we had straightened out on the new course the leader gave the signal to close the bomb doors. I was flying in the fourth flight, first box, on Capt Walkers wing, number three position. Directly after I closed my bomb bay doors I looked up and to the right. At that time I saw Lt Lubbens ship hesitate momentarily and then go into approximately an 80 dive. At the time I watched him, his ship was diving with his wings level in a diving position."

Lt Lubben was buried by German soldiers, alongside two other American soldiers, under a tree marked "Here Lies Three American Soldiers" until 1976. At that time a German team, hired by the government to find old war munitions, found the remains, and they were reburied as unidentified American soldiers in Belgium.

His name is listed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Luxembourg American Cemetery.

His remains were identified and returned to the United States in 2007. Lt Lubben was buried alongside his parents on 31 July 2007 at Forest Hill Cemetery in Wisconsin. Some of his remains were also buried at Arlington National Cemetery in April 2008.

He was declared officially dead one day and one year after he was reported missing in action.