REX, ROBERT ALAN

Remains Returned

R058.jpg (11173 bytes)

Name: Robert Alan Rex
Rank/Branch: O2/United States Air Force
Unit:  357th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Date of Birth: 17 February 1942
Home City of Record: Randolph UT
Date of Loss: 08 December 1968
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates:
Status (in 1973):
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F105D
Missions:
Other Personnel in Incident:
Incident # 1336

Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families, published sources, interviews.

REMARKS:

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                  Defense POW/MIA Weekly Update

July 26, 1996

MIA SERVICEMAN RETURNS HOME

The remains of an American serviceman previously unaccounted-for from
Southeast Asia were returned from Hickam AFB, Hawaii to the USAF mortuary,
Travis AFB, Calif. on July 10, 1996.  The remains were identified as Captain
Robert A. Rex, USAF, of Randolph, Utah.

On December 8, 1968, Rex was the pilot of an F-105D Thunderchief in a
flight of four aircraft which departed Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base on a
strike mission over Laos.

The Forward Air Controller operating in the target area observed him roll in
on his target in a 60-degree dive.  There did not appear to be any attempt
by Rex to recover from the dive or to deliver his ordnance.  The FAC
reported that the canopy of the F-105D was still in place when the
aircraft crashed and exploded. Rescue aircraft in the area received no
beeper signals from the area of the crash site.  Hostile threats in the area
prevented any ground inspections of the crash site.

On two subsequent joint investigations in 1994, U. S. and Lao teams surveyed
and excavated the crash site where crew-related items and remains were
recovered.  The identification of the remains by the Central Identification
Laboratory, Hawaii, was made through standard forensic methods, and was
confirmed through the use of mitochondrial DNA testing.

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02/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000uar1AEAQ

CAPT ROBERT ALAN REX

Return to Service Member Profiles

On July 1, 1996, Joint Task Force–Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Captain Robert Alan Rex, missing from the Vietnam War.

Captain Rex entered the U.S. Air Force from Utah and served with the 357th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On December 8, 1968, he piloted an F-105D Thunderchief (tail number 61-0150, call sign "Cookie") that took off from Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, on a strike mission over Laos. During an attack on the target, the aircraft crashed for unknown reasons, killing Capt Rex. Hostile forces in the area prevented ground searches of the crash site, and his body was not recovered at the time. In 1994, U.S./Laotian investigators recovered human remains and crew-related artifacts from the crash site, and Capt Rex was identified from the remains recovered. 

Captain Rex is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

If you are a family member of this serviceman, you may contact your casualty office representative to learn more about your service member.