Hybarger - Robert - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

Six members of the Crawfordsville HS basketball team  which was one of 4 to play in the state championship finals at  Indianpaolis in 1942 will be pallbearers at the funeral services at 2  o'clock Wednesday afternoon for 2nd Lt. Robert Hybarger. The service  will be held at the Smartsburg Christian Church. Lt. Hybarger, who lost  his life overseas in WWII while serving as a navigator on a B-17 bomber,  was captain of the 1942 team on which he played back guard. The  remaining members of the 1942 squad, together with members of the Kappa  Sigma Fraternity at Wabash College of which Mr. Hybarger was a member  while a student at Wabash will serve as honorary pallbearers at the  services. Rev. John R. Servies will conduct the service at the church.  Members of Montgomery County Post 1431, Veterans of Foreign Wars will be  in charge of military services to be conducted at the grave at Oak Hill  Cemetery. Lt. Hybarger met death when his B-17 bomb er was shot down  over Europe on his 20th birthday, June 2, 1944. 7 of the 10 members of  the crew were killed. Lt. Hybarger was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Roy  (Leroy) Hybarger, who live near Smartsburg. His father, a WWI veteran is  a past commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in  Crawfordsville.

Military honors will be accorded Second Lieutenant Robert Hybarger by Montgomery County Post No. 1431, Veterans of Foreign Wars, at services to be conducted Wednesday afternoon at Oak Hill cemetery. The body of Lieut. Hybarger, son of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Hybarger, who lost his life when his B-17 bomber was shot down over Europe June 2, 1944, will arrive in Crawfordsville Tuesday afternoon at 5:07 o'clock on the southbound Monon train. Funeral services will be conducted at the Smartsburg Christian church at two o'clock Wednesday afternoon. Lieut Hybarger was a member of the Smartsburg church. Rev. John R. Servies will be in charge of the service. Friends may call at the home, south of Smartsburg, to pay their respects after six o'clock Tuesday evening. Lieut. Hybarger met death on his 20th birthday. He was born June 2, 1924, on a farm north of Crawfordsville. Graduating from Crawfordsville high school with the class of 1942, he entered Wabash college the following September. Entering the service in March, 1943, Liet. Hybarger was sent overseas in April, 1944. Less than two months later his bomber was shot down, bringing death to seven of the 10 members of the crew. During his high school days, Hybarger was prominent in both basketball and football, playing four years in each brach of athletics. He was president of the National Honor Society in his senior year. In Wabash college, he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. The Veterans of Foreign Wars Hybarger award for the Crawfordsville high school was established in his honor. His father, a World War I veteran, is a past commander o fthe Montgomery county post. The honor is presented each year to the C. H. S. senior athlete, voted as the outstanding athlete of the year. Lieut. Hybarger is survived by his parents, two brothers and one sister. Brothers are Oscar Hybarger and Rex Hybarger and the sister is Rilla Hybarger. Oscar is a World War II veteran, while Rex and Rilla are students in the school at Smartsburg. (Journal & Review, Crawfordsville, IN, Saturday, November 6, 1948, p. 1, Col. 3) - thanks to findagrave.com - wish there was a picture :(