After her son Marlin went missing in action during the Korean War, Roberta Tanner agonized over his well-being. Had Marlin died? Was he a prisoner of war? Was he being tortured? As time passed with no news on his whereabouts, her worry and anxiety settled into a painful depression.
One night in vision, Marlin visited his mother. Ecstatic to see him, she reached for him.
“Mother, I came to tell you not to worry about me anymore. I’m okay.”
Peace filled Roberta’s heart. Marlin turned to go and Roberta saw parts of his body were on fire, burned, and missing. She immediately knew that his plane had been shot down and he perished.
While she mourned his passing, she wasn’t wracked with the anxiety and horrors of not knowing.
Marlin Arthur Tanner
This year for Memorial Day I chose to honor my great uncle Marlin Tanner who was declared dead while missing in action during the Korean War. His remains were never recovered.
Marlin Arthur Tanner’s inscription at The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii
1LT Marlin Arthur Tanner
Distinguished Flying Cross
8th Bombardment Squadron
Air Force
Hostile, Died While Missing (MIA)
Remains Not Recovered
Aircraft Type: B-26B
Aircraft Number: 43-22447
Date Of Loss: January 13, 1953
Service Number: AO2064677
Born: March 27, 1924
Home Or Place Of Enlistment
Winslow, Arizona
Location Or Battle Zone: North Korea
Comments: First Lieutenant Tanner was the co-pilot of a B- 26B Invader bomber with the 8th Bomber Squadron, 3rd Bomber Group. On January 13, 1953, while on a night intruder mission, contact with his aircraft was lost. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on January 14, 1954. He served in WWII and then worked on the Indian Reservation at Pala, CA. That was where he was called up for Korea.
Son of Arthur Tanner and Roberta Turley Tanner.
Final Disposition Date: January 14, 1954
Korean War Project Key No: 29512
The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at the Punchbowl Crater
From a life sketch written by his mother Roberta Tanner
Marlin Arthur Tanner as a young man
Marlin was first called into the service of the United States of America June 11, 1943. He was first sent to college in Texas, then Montana, and finally Wyoming, during the early part of Air Force Training. He tried out to be a pilot, but his depth perception was off and he couldn’t land planes, so he switched to Navigator.
He was sent to England in October 1944, stationed outside of London. His plane bombed over Germany. After he completed 35 missions over Germany, he remained behind when his company came home, and he was made Head Squadron Navigator. He stayed on the ground and plotted courses for others and he was made First Lieutenant. He returned to the United States on 1 July 1945.
He married Anna Lee Eastman on 30 July 1945. They’d met at Winslow High School. She became a nurse and he finished school at BYU. After graduation, Marlin accepted a job with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington. The Tanners transferred to California where Marlin worked on several Reservations.
Marlin and Anna Lee had two little sons when Marlin was called back to active duty in 1952. He moved his young family to Mather Field at Sacramento for two months and then Langley Field in Virginia for two months. Anna Lee returned home to Winslow when Marlin went to Survival School in Nevada. Anna Lee left the children in Winslow and met Marlin in California before he left for Korea.
In Korea, Marlin was the Navigator and Bombardier of a B26. He enjoyed a week’s leave in Japan. The day after returning from Japan, Marlin’s plane took off on a mission to bomb the supply lines of the North Koreans and nothing was ever heard from the plane or occupants again. He was declared missing January 13, 1953.
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