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The Enterprise, White Salmon, WA., January 26, 1945, page 6

WAR DEPARTMENT PRESUMES ARIEL McCUMBER DEAD

The war department has advised Mrs. John Marvin that her brother, Ariel McCumber, is presumably dead. McCumber was with a tank corps in Italy when a year ago last December they were found missing from their tank ten miles from Casino. She was informed shortly afterwards that he was missing in action and no word has been received from him since. The department made their final decision recently which was sent to Mrs. Marvin. McCumber lived in Glenwood before going into the service.

The Mt. Adams Sun, Bingen, WA., November 5, 1953, page 9

NAMESAKE OF GLENWOOD POST DIES IN FLAMING ARMY TANK
By Ivan McCumber

My brother Ariel McCumber was born in Yakima County, three miles north of Glenwood, Washington, August 22, 1909. He attended grade school in Glenwood, riding or walking from our father's isolated ranch to school. He attended high school in Glenwood and White Salmon where he took an active part in athletics - especially pole vaulting at which he became a quite proficient.
During the summer months, from the time he was 13 years old, he worked with sheep in the Mt. Adams area. After quitting school he worked with sheep for many years. During the winter the sheep were wintered on home ranches along the Columbia River.
Ariel became an expert marksman with a rifle and revolver defending the flocks under his care from predatory animals - an accomplishment much to his advantage during his Army career. During his solitary hours he read a great deal, choosing the best literature obtainable. In his spare time he studied electrical engineering and law.

HIS ARMY LIFE

Tiring of the lack of human companionship and social activities of a herdman's life, Ariel quit working with sheep. For several years prior to his induction into the Armed Forces he worked at railroad construction for a lover lumber company near Glenwood.
He was inducted into the Army in March 1941 and took his basic training at Camp Roberts, Calif. Then he was sent to the Canal Zone and served on guard duty for ships that were passing through the Panama Canal. His home bases were at Fort Davis and Camp Pariaso.
Later he was transferred to Jackson Barracks, New Orleans; then to Camp Polk and attached to the 753rd Tank Battalion. After receiving his sergeant's rating he was sent to Temple, Texas to train recruits.
While I was serving with the Persian Gulf Command, Ariel wrote me a letter professing a strong desire to be sent overseas. He lamented the fear that he would be stuck in the States all during the war.
In June 1943 he was sent to North Africa and served in the invasions of Sicily and the Italian mainland.

HIS LAST LETTER

On November 10, 1943 Ariel wrote me saying that so far he had not received a scratch and if his luck held out he would tell me about it someday. He relayed the news from home that the waters of the Big Muddy were available to irrigate Glenwood Valley. He looked forward to our returning to Glenwood where we could make our home community more desirable.
That was perhaps his last letter and is among my prized possessions.
On December 15, 1943, the tank in which he was one of five-man crew, was struck by two enemy shells and set on fire in an engagement near St. Pietro, Italy, eight miles SE of Cassino.
Three of the crew members, one badly wounded, escaped from the tank and took refuge in a nearby ditch. When they were picked up by their own outfit they were unable to say if Ariel or the other crew members had escaped. The tank was too badly damaged disclose their fates. After 12 months it was necessary to report a presumptive finding of death.
In all the letters that Ariel wrote while in the service there were no complaints regarding hardship and danger - only the optimistic and morale building expressions of a dauntless and adventurous spirit willing to do his utmost to protect our country and our way of life from foreign aggression.