[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 29, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4833-S4834]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO ROBLEY REX

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise because my State and our country 
have lost one of our last links to a bygone era. On Tuesday, April 28, 
Robley Rex passed away a few days shy of his 108th birthday. He will 
forever be remembered as Kentucky's last World War I-era veteran.
  Ninety years ago, a teenaged Robley Rex landed in France, caring a 
rifle and wearing a U.S. Army uniform. He was a long way from Christian 
County, KY, where he was born in 1901 and raised.
  Wanting to see the world and fight for his country, Robley enlisted 
in the Fifth, and later the 28th, Infantry Division and was deployed to 
Europe. After leaving the Army in 1922, he returned to Kentucky and 
settled in Louisville, where he became a postal worker and ordained 
Methodist minister.
  Robley was not only the Bluegrass State's preeminent veteran, he was 
also its preeminent volunteer on behalf of veterans. Decades after his 
own active service ended, he continued to serve his fellow soldiers by 
volunteering at the Louisville Veterans Affairs Medical Center, right 
up until the last years of his life.
  The Veterans of Foreign Wars honored him for over 14,000 hours of 
service in 22 years. I was proud to call Robley a friend of mine. Our 
lives intersected a number of times over the last 20 or 30 years. A few 
weeks ago when I was in Louisville, I had the pleasure to read a 
wonderful article about Robley in the Southeast Outlook. On a sad note, 
the article mentioned how Robley was looking forward to his impending 
birthday. I know a lot of the rest of us were too. His friends were 
planning a special birthday celebration at the Louisville VA hospital 
next month. Instead, it will be an opportunity to remember how much 
Robley meant to all of us.
  As much as we will all miss him, I take comfort knowing that Robley 
is reunited with his beloved wife Gracie, who passed away in 1992, 
after more than 60 years of marriage.
  Because I wish to share with my colleagues this article on Robley 
Rex's long and exciting life, I ask unanimous consent that the full 
article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

    [From the Louisville, Kentucky, Southeast Outlook, Apr. 2, 2009]

                        107-Year-Old Robley Rex

                            (By Ruth Schenk)

       Eighteen-year-old Robley Rex weighed just 115 pounds when 
     he landed in France at the end of World War I carrying an 84-
     pound pack.
       Every soldier had a blanket, a quart of water, 160 rounds 
     of ammunition, a Springfield M6 Scout gun and a small khaki-
     colored New Testament. His uniform was made of a drab olive 
     wool.
       Rex signed up for the Army on May 21, 1918, a few weeks 
     after his 18th birthday. He convinced his mom to sign to 
     papers after recruiters told him it was the ``chance of a 
     lifetime'' and assured the teenager who grew up on a farm in 
     Christian County, Ky., that he'd ``see the world, and the 
     world would see a lot of him.''
       Army pay back then was $36 a month.
       At that time, everybody thought the war would end any day. 
     The Germans and the Allies signed the Armistice on Nov 11, 
     1918, but they hadn't yet signed the Treaty of Versailles.
       Rex, now one of the last World War I-era vets living in the 
     United States, is a celebrity at Christopher East Nursing 
     Home in Louisville and an icon among veterans. In 107 years, 
     he has lived through 20 presidents, two world wars, the 
     Korean conflict, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and the war in 
     Iraq.
       He has seen a lot of world change in his lifetime.
       Rex was a Private First Class when his ship landed in 
     northwestern France. Word of the armistice hadn't yet reached 
     the trenches, so bullets still were flying. His first job was 
     guarding German prisoners. Remnants of war were everywhere--
     in the rubble of buildings, hundreds of acres of ``torn up'' 
     land and big puddles of green water that reminded Rex of 
     gangrene.
       French soldiers told him they would have lost the war if it 
     weren't for the Americans.
       Back then, military life meant absolute, complete 
     obedience. No one questioned authority.
       ``If the corporal told us to pick up something on the 
     ground, we picked it up. There was no need to explain or 
     question why we were going to climb a mountain or go to a 
     town,'' Rex said. ``If the captain said you were going, you 
     were going--without any explanation.''
       Most everyone attended religious services.
       ``They weren't mandatory, but if everybody from Company B 
     was told to be at the 8 a.m. service, they were there,'' Rex 
     said. ``We went because we wanted to do the right thing.''
       Rex believes that Army coffee must come from the bark of 
     trees, and that there are no atheists in foxholes.
       The faith he'd learned at home carried him through scary 
     times. ``When I was walking down a road in Germany or in 
     France, and the fear would rise up in me, I would say, `I 
     have no fear for Thou are with me' from Psalm 23 or Isaiah 
     41:10, `So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be 
     dismayed, for I am your God. I will uphold you with my 
     righteous right hand.'''
       There's not much Rex doesn't remember.
       All the great military heroes of that day were in Europe: 
     Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton and John Pershing.
       ``The soldier we wanted to see most was Douglas MacArthur. 
     At that time, he was considered the world's greatest 
     patriot,'' Rex said.
       After 2\1/2\ months in France, Rex was sent to Germany with 
     the 3rd Army Intelligence Unit because he had finished two 
     years of high school.
       He saw destruction--and need. Rex said he'll never forget 
     seeing German citizens wait for the food the American 
     soldiers threw away so they could take it to their own homes.
       Rex spent three years in Europe. The recruiters were right: 
     He saw people and places he never would have seen if he had 
     stayed in Kentucky.
       In 1921, Rex returned to the States, was discharged from 
     the Army and settled into civilian life with a job at 
     Marathon Tire in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. By then, he was 22 
     years old and ready to ``settle down.'' If the job was good, 
     meeting his wife, Gracie, in the Camp Taylor area of 
     Louisville was 100 times better.
       It was close to love at first sight.
       Rex doesn't remember where they went on dates, but he says 
     the secret to his long life is ``marrying the right woman.''
       According to Rex, Gracie was the best cook and ``saver'' in 
     the world.
       ``Grace could walk across the yard, cut off a handful of 
     grass, fry it and it would be

[[Page S4834]]

     good,'' he said. ``And she never let us spend more than we 
     brought home. If I earned $10,000, and she said we'd save 
     $2,000, we'd save $2,000. If I made $6,000 and she said we 
     should save $2,000, we'd save $2,000.''
       The two only had each other, as they never had children.
       For Rex, that was enough.
       Rex began volunteering at the Louisville Veterans Medical 
     Center when he was in his 80s. His job was to get needed 
     medical records to the right place in the hospital before 8 
     a.m. He continued volunteering until 2005, when he was 104 
     and confined to a wheelchair. By then, he had put in 22 years 
     and more than 14,000 hours.
       He always took time to talk with wounded veterans.
       ``Each one has a great story to tell,'' Rex said. ``I've 
     heard soldiers tell how they lost legs and arms in battle, 
     how they were taken prisoner and managed to survive horrors 
     of combat.''
       His advanced age has not diminished his sense of humor 
     either.
       Ask Rex about his best birthday celebration and he says, 
     ``The one coming up.''
       The hardest thing in Rex's life wasn't the war or the Great 
     Depression.
       It was Aug. 24, 1992, the day Gracie died. He still tears 
     up when he talks about it, and he still wears his wedding 
     ring with tape wound around it to keep it on his finger.
       Rex doesn't think he's anything special. Just an ordinary 
     boy from Kentucky who served his country.

  Mr. McCONNELL. I know all my colleagues join me in honoring the 
memory of this great patriot and soldier. Through his long lifetime of 
service, Robley Rex proved his faith and devotion to his country. Now 
his country will forever be faithful and devoted to him.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Arizona is 
recognized.
  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent there be a full hour 
of morning business as under the previous order.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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