This Military Service Page was created/owned by
A3C Michael S. Bell (Unit Historian)
to remember
Rex, Robert F., Capt.
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On 9 March 1969 Capt. Robert F (Bob) Rex, pilot and Army Special Forces SSgt. Tim L. Walters, observer, comprised the crew of an O2A aircraft (serial #67-21425) that departed Nakhon Phanom Airfield, Thailand on a FAC combat support mission over Savannakhet Province, Laos for SSgt. Walters special operations unit, MACV-SOG. At approximately 1150 hours the Skymaster crashed into the rugged jungle-covered mountains for unknown reasons approximately 1 mile south of an east/west running primary road, 2 miles west of a power line, and 3 miles north of a secondary road that ran from the southwest to northeast interesting the primary road to the east of the crash site. Knife 55, another aircraft operating in the same area, reported the Skymaster?s loss to the air control center along with the crash site location as being roughly 3 miles west of the Lao/Vietnamese border, 30 kilometers northeast of Xepon and 2 kilometers northeast of Ban Biang, Laos. A ground search team visited the crash site a short time later and reported both crewmen died in the crash.
This Veteran has an (IMO) In Memory Of Headstone in Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial, Hawaii, as well as Odebolt Cemetery, Odebolt, Sac County, IA.
Aircraft/Missile Information
The C-130 series began as a 1951 requirement for a military transport with Short Take-Off and Landing capabilities. The series was born as the YC-130 and performed well in the latter part of 1954 with its Allison three-bladed turboprop engines. With successes encountered throughout the war in Vietnam and furthermore in peacetime, the C-130 Hercules spawned a plethora of variants that would include special forces insertion, arctic patrol, meteorological research, communications, close-support and modernized variants of the base transport.
Model Lockheed C-130H Hercules Length 97.77 ft | 29.80 m Width 132.55 ft | 40.40 m Height 37.40 ft | 11.40 m Engine(s) 4 x Allison T56-A-15LFE turboprop engines generating 4,508hp each. Empty Weight 76,505 lbs | 34,702 kg MTOW 175,003 lbs | 79,380 kg Max Speed 386 mph | 621 km/h | 335 kts Max Range 2,237 miles | 3,600 km Ceiling 33,005 ft | 10,060 m | 6.3 miles Climb Rate Not Available Hardpoints 0 Armament None. Internal payload of up to 42,637lbs of supplies, personnel and vehicles. Accommodations 4 + 92 Operators Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States of America among others (about 60 in all).
