Rex T. Barber was one of the 16 fighter pilots who participated in the famous - and then Top Secret - "Yamamoto" mission, which helped turn the tide of World War II against the Japanese.
Born in Culver, Oregon, in 1917, Barber attended Linfield College in McMinnville, then Oregon State College in Corvallis, majoring in Agricultural Engineering.
With the war looming, Rex Barber - like thousands of other patriotic young Americans - left school late in 1940 to join the U.S. Army Air Corps, earning his pilot's wings and his commission as a second lieutenant.
Lt. Barber was aboard a ship halfway to Hawaii when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Early in 1942, Barber's unit, the 70th Fighter Squadron, arrived on Fiji, where they trained under the guidance of "...the most wonderful commander I ever had," Major John W. Mitchell. Taking command of the new 339th Fighter Squadron on Guatalcanal Island late 1942, Mitchell brought Rex Barber and other top fighter pilots with him.
The Yamamoto Mission
On April 18, 1943, Lt. Barber and 15 others under Major Mitchell's command took off from Guadalcanal. Their daring mission was to intercept and shoot down Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander in Chief of the Combined Fleet of the Japanese Imperial Navy - the man who planned and led the Pearl Harbor attack.
After more than two tense hours of flight at wave top levels over 435 miles of open ocean, the 16 Lockheed P-38 Lightnings engaged Yamamoto's flight of two bombers and six escort fighters. Barber boldly pulled in only 100 feet behind Yamamoto's aircraft. Slowing his fighter at extreme personal risk, he raked the Japanese bomber with fire, killing Admiral Yamamoto and most of his key staff. For his heroism, Lt. Barber earned the Navy Cross.
Barber then volunteered to fly against the Japanese in China. He flew 29 combat missions in P-38s until he was shot down in April, 1944, over enemy territory near the Yangtze River. Despite debilitating injuries that plagued him the rest of his life, he evaded capture for two months with the aid of Chinese guerrillas who then returned him to friendly territory.
Rex Barber's impressive wartime record of 138 combat missions includes fiver confirmed aerial victories and three "probables," making him a "Fighter Ace."
After the war, Colonel Barber began testing the new Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star Jet Fighter. One day, he piloted one under the old Crooked River Bridge and the railroad bridge visible to your left, just west of here. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1961 as a full colonel and returned to Oregon where he lived out his days in service to his family, his community and the country he loved.
~Verbiage taken from the interpretive display