View all veterans honored in the
Odebolt Veteran's Memorial Monument
located in the Odebolt Cemetery
Odebolt Veteran's Memorial Monument
located in the Odebolt Cemetery
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The below was submitted by Andy Ross, former resident of Odebolt
who graduated with the Class of 1967. Thanks, Andy!
who graduated with the Class of 1967. Thanks, Andy!
As a kid in a small Iowa town, (Odebolt) I delivered newspapers before school each morning, and one of the stops was the Earle F. Rex residence. Mr. and Mrs. Rex had a son, Robert, who was a pilot in the Air Force while I was their paperboy.
Robert Rex had the distinction of being the first student from Odebolt-Arthur Community High School to be appointed as a cadet to the U.S. Air Force Academy, graduating in the class of 1963, then reporting as a second lieutenant to flight school, becoming an Air Force pilot upon completion.
This past year has found me working on a construction project at Dyess AFB in Texas, and daily I would drive past their airplanes on display, one of which being this O-2A Skymaster, an observation aircraft commonly used in Vietnam.
The O-2A Skymaster is a twin-engine observation aircraft with a tractor propeller in front and a pushing propeller in the rear.Each day driving past the O-2A, I would be reminded that it was also the plane which Captain Robert F. Rex flew in Vietnam. The last plane he flew.
On March 9th, 1969 Captain Robert Rex's O-2A was lost over Laos. Captain Rex has not returned.
On this Memorial Day Weekend please take a moment to view the attached document written to honor Captain Robert F Rex and his crew member, Staff Sergeant Tim L Walters, US Army.
Click for attached document
Respectfully,
Andy Ross
Back in the day, the newspaper delivery process was somewhat primitive compared to today's standards, and we newspaper boys would go out on Saturday mornings to collect the receipts for that week's subscriptions, some thirty-five to sixty cents per week per customer.
ReplyDeleteOne morning a strikingly handsome and extremely cordial young man answered the door who was pleased to cover his parent's newspaper fare. Said he was home on leave from the Air Force.
A fine young officer, he was... 1LT Robert F Rex
May his memory be Blessed!