Capt. Tribble was born on February 22, 1923, attended school in Donalds and attended Clemson College. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and was commissioned as 2^nd Lieutenant. He served with the XXI Bombardment Group in the Marianna Islands. While flying his B-29 over Tokyo on May 23, 1945, Capt. Tribble was shot down, captured, and held as POW until liberated in September of 1945. After WWII he remained in the military and transitioned to the U.S. Air Force. On November 22, 1952 Capt. Tribble was onboard a C-124 Globemaster from McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma, Washington to Elemndorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska when the plane crashed into Mt Gannett, Alaska and sank into a glacier.

Beginning in 2012, when the wreckage was discovered, the Alaska National Guard initiated recovery missions that have been ongoing.  Capt. Tribble’s remains were found and identified.

Capt. Tribble was married to the late Catherine Janet Miller in Decatur, Illinois in 1950. 

He is pre-deceased in addition to his wife by son Richard Benjamin Tribble and two sisters, Jean Tribble and Juanita Tribble. He is survived by several nieces, nephews, and cousins including Janis Ellen Tribble of Ware Shoals, Anne Hicklin and Mark Hicklin of Spartanburg, and Rob Hicklin of Charleston, South Carolina; Kell Hicklin of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts; Dan Horton of Athens, Georgia; Kathy Horton Anderson of San Francisco, California; Manning Horton of Denver, Colorado and Rick Horton of Placitas, New Mexico.

Interment with Military Honors will be held at 11 A.M. on Friday, September 15, 2017 at Donalds Baptist Church Cemetery. Online condolences may be made at www.ParkerWhitePruitt.com  Photo and some content courtesy of the  Chief Rick Stone Charitable Foundation.