Alabama, WWII Military Dead and Wounded, 1944-1946 record of Ernest being missing in action

Ernest L. Dilburn
Is Prisoner Of War
   Warrant Officer Ernest Lee Dilburn, who has been reported missing in action since D-Day, is a prisoner of war in Germany, according to a message received August 22 through the International Red Cross by his mother, Mrs. H. N. Dilburn of 106 South Appletree street.

Alabama, WWII Military Dead and Wounded, 1944-1946 record of Ernest as a Liberated Prisoner of War.

On 3 Mary 1945, WO Dilburn was in a group of of ex-POW's returning to the U.S. aboard trhe USAT Monticello (AP-61), arriving New York, NY.  His home address was listed as 105 S Appleletree, Dothan, AL

(courtesy of Judy Samson-Shealy)

Grave marker for Ernest L. Dilburn in Memory Hill Cemetery, Dothan (Houston county), Alabama.
   Ernest began his military career as an enlisted man.  On 26 June 1940, Pvt Dilburn  was a volunteer for the Parachute Test Platoon.
   He appeared in the 1940 census, a Corporal, age 23, living in U.S. Government Barracks at Fort Benning (Chattahoochee), GA, occupation soldier.
   By June, 1944 he was a Warrant Officer when captured on D-Day.
   Following the war, however, he was made a master sergeant due to a reduction in force.
   On 17 January 1949, he married Thea Ida Friedrich [1923–1993] in Boeblingen, Germany.
   Ernest retired on 30 April 1958 with the grade WO-1 under the classification of S-2 (EM or WO advanced to higher grade)