He completed 25 missions. He flew the 'Eager Beaver' from Westover AFB to England. He had the 'Eager Beaver' throughout his first 15 missions until 3 March 1943 when it got badly shot up by the ball turret gunner on John Reagan's crew. He was the 19th Officer to complete tour 29 June 1943.

According to a letter written by Col. Claude E. Putnam on 5 November 1943, 'he has the outstanding record of having completed an operational tour of 25 daylight heavy bombardment sorties over targets in occupied Europe and Germany without once having returned early. '

AM w.3 Oak Leaf Cluster, DFC, 5 Battle Stars, Legion of Merit, Air Force Commendation Medal

Short article from The Gettysburg Times, PA, published 12 May 1944:

TWO BROTHERS MEET IN LONDON

"Major Marlin E Reber, formerly New Oxford, is a veteran of 26 missions over enemy lines, according to word received here. The pilot of a Flying Fortress, he is holder of the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal and the Silver Star."

"Recently, while walking on a London street, he accidentally jostled against another soldier, according to letters to friends here."

"Both stopped, stared and then started talking. The solder who had jostled the major was Staff Sergeant Wellington R. Reber, of near New Oxford, the major's brother. Neither had recognized the other until the accident."

"Both are sons of Mr. and Mrs. Irvin A. Reber, formerly of New Oxford and now of Hanover. Sergeant Reber recently returned from England where he spent 19 months as an administrative clerk for a heavy bombardment group. He is now stationed at the Stuttgart, Arkansas, Army Air Field."

From PCT article:
'Hollywood immortalized the bomber and others (Col. Reber said there were a total of 60 fighting B-17s) in movies like “Twelve O’Clock High.” In fact, in one scene from this American classic featuring leading man Gregory Peck as Gen. Armstrong, Col. Reber the real man, not an actor can be seen flying the plane beside the famous actor.'

Marlen served in the US Air Force for 27 years, retiring as a full Colonel. He went on to serve as City Safety Service Director for the city of Troy, Ohio. He moved to Florida when he retired in 1980. He died in 2012. As one obituary put it, 'Marlen loved to golf, boat and be with Virginia his loving wife of 70 years. He is survived by his wife Virginia as well as his four loving sons, Robert (Sylvia) of Plano, TX; William (Patricia) of Columbia, SC; Michael of Punta Gorda, FL and Steven (Alice) of Exton, PA. He is also survived by 6 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.

Service

Events

Event	Location	Date
Born	Lykens, PA, USA	4 May 1918
Lived in	New Oxford, PA 17350, USA	1919
Exact dates not yet known. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Irvin A. Reber
Enlisted	Detroit, MI, USA	12 July 1941
Flew Eager Beaver to England	Westover Air Force Base, Chicopee, MA 01022, USA	25 August 1942
Based	Thurleigh	September 1942 – 29 June 1943
Served as City Safety Service Director	Troy, OH, USA	1968 – 1980
Lived in	Punta Gorda, FL, USA	1980 – 2012
Moved to Florida when he retired.
Died	Punta Gorda, FL, USA	29 July 2012
Buried	Royal Palm Memorial Gardens, 27200 Jones Loop Road, Punta Gorda, FL 33982, USA	August 2012