Albert Edward Tarbox

CPT in 603rd Engineer Camouflage Bn : Staff

ASN#345549

Born 1910 in NY, Died 2001

Other residence(s): Scarsdale, NY; Eastchester, NY; Piscataway, NJ; Hartford, CT; Fallbrook, CA

United States Army, did not accompany the unit to Europe

Occupation before the war: engineer

College education before the war: Colorado School of Mines

Notes: Transferred to 602nd Engineers in Jan. 1943 (along with seven other officers and NCOs of the 603rd) and went to Europe with that unit.

Source: 603rd Camouflage Engineer Roster provided by W. Anderson; photo courtesy Ancestry®, likely Colorado School of Mines yearbook photo

Albert Tarbox was born on September 16, 1910 in Fordham, NY (a neighborhood of The Bronx), the sixth of eight children. Both of his parents had been born in England and his father worked as a customs inspector.

The family was living in Scarsdale, NY in 1920 and in Eastchester, NY in 1930. When he was 12 he became a Boy Scout, eventually earning the rank of Eagle Scout. Three of his brothers also earned this honor—it was the first time in the U.S. that four brothers had all become Eagle Scouts. Albert graduated from Eastchester High School in 1929—in the school's first graduating class.

He may have worked for a few years before starting his engineering studies at Colorado School of Mines; he graduated in 1936 with a degree in engineering and a commission as a 1LT in the Army Reserve. He then went to work as an engineer at Bakelite Corporation in Bound Brook, NJ.*

Albert married Grayce Eileen Wadlund on November 23, 1940 in Hartford, CT. They would go on to have two children: David and Pamela.

Sometime after Albert was called to serve in the Army, he was assigned to the 603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion with the rank of CPT. However, he was transferred to the 602^nd Camouflage Engineers in January, 1943 and served out the remainder of his enlistment in that unit. (The 602^nd also served in Europe during the war.)

Albert was discharged from the Army with the rank of MAJ on October 30, 1945 and returned to Hartford, CT where his wife was living.

Over the subsequent years, Albert continued to work at Union Carbide where he developed a plastic used on the Minuteman Missile. He also worked on the development of Glad Wrap, which had been invented at a Union Carbide facility in Australia.

Albert remained in the Army Reserve, eventually earning the rank of LTC. He also continued to be active in Scouting. In 1965, he was serving as the director of camping and activities for the Watchung Area Council (northern NJ), and was awarded the Silver Beaver Award—the highest honor awarded to a Scouter for distinguished service to the local council. In 1984, he was serving as an assistant scoutmaster in Fallbrook, CA, and received the St. George Episcopal Medal in recognition of his "faithful service to Scouting and his Church" during his many years as a Scouter. He eventually achieved 75 years in the Boy Scouts.

In retirement in the late 1970s, Albert and Eileen moved to Fallbrook, CA. Albert died there on August 9, 2001.

*Bakelite was one of the first modern plastics. The company was acquired by Union Carbide in 1939.