Arthur Jibilian

Arthur Jibilian (30 April 1923 21 March 2010) was a U.S. Navy radio officer, who volunteered for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), and was parachuted behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied Serbia.

Background and early years Arthur Jibilian was born on 30 April 1923 in Cleveland, Ohio, in the U.S., into an Armenian American family.

He was educated in the Toledo City School District and graduated from DeVilbiss High School, just when World War II started. In March 1943, he went to the Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, where he learned the Morse code and naval intelligence protocol. After his wartime experiences, he enrolled at the University of Toledo and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.

Military career After the Naval Station Great Lakes, Jibilian volunteered for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and was sent to Washington, DC, where OSS instructors taught him to code and decode messages, operate three-piece radios consisting of a transmitter, receiver, and power pack, all to fit a small, unobtrusive suitcase. He was taught to "mingle in a crowd", act, and carry the suitcase like a local traveler. Then, he went to Fort Benning, and Fort Bragg for parachute training and taking part in army maneuvers with Special Operations groups. Jibilian and other radiomen were then sent to Cairo, Egypt. There, Jibilian was interviewed and told by Lieutenant Eli Popovich that he was selected for a second mission in Yugoslavia. The first mission took place on 23 January 1944 when Eli Popovich and Linn Farish discussed the evacuation of American missing in action soldiers in Partisan territory in Bosnia with Josip Broz Titoit. On 15 March 1944, Eli Popovich, Col. Linn Farrish, and Jibilian parachuted into partisan territory. On 10 August, fourteen American transport planes escorted by six Spitfires first evacuated 250 airmen, including a few Yugoslavs, namely Adam Pribićević, Zvonimir Vučković, Ivan Kovač, and Dr. Vladimir Belajčić, former Superior Court Judge of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was there that a total of more than 500 U.S. airmen and foreign servicemen in Operation Halyard were evacuated to Bari, Italy.

Arthur Jibilian died of cancer in Fremont, Ohio on 21 March 2010 and is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery. He was the last survivor of the Halyard Mission team.