Larkin Gilford Dilbeck was born on September 29, 1918, in Glover, McCurtain County, Oklahoma. He was the son of John and Ann Dilbeck. He was married to Norabel Bell Dagenhart Dilbeck and later to Edna Lee Raiford Cannaday. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, he worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps, earning one dollar a day while helping struggling families by assisting farmers, building roads, and constructing park facilities across Arkansas. He later attended Eastern New Mexico State University in Portales, where he studied forestry.

Cpl Dilbeck served in the United States Army with the 740th Tank Battalion in World War II. Known as the “Daredevil Tankers”, the 740th was a separate battalion that fought from Utah Beach all the way to the Baltic Sea in support of various divisions of the US war effort. After the war, he worked for American Airlines. He died on March 18, 2016, and is now buried in the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.legacy.com