Rex T. Barber, born in Culver, Oregon, in 1917, left Oregon State College in late 1940 to join the U.S. Army Air Corps, earned his pilot's wings and a commission as a second lieutenant, and served as one of 16 fighter pilots on the top secret April 18, 1943, mission from Guadalcanal under Major John W. Mitchell to intercept Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's flight over the Pacific. Flying a Lockheed P-38 after more than two hours over 435 miles of open ocean, Barber closed to within 100 feet of Yamamoto's bomber and fired on it, killing Yamamoto and most of his key staff; for his heroism he received the Navy Cross. His wartime service included 138 combat missions, five confirmed aerial victories and three probables, service in China, and a 1944 shootdown near the Yangtze River after which, despite serious injuries, he evaded capture for two months with help from Chinese guerrillas. After the war he tested the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1961 as a full colonel, and returned to Oregon, where he served his community as mayor of Culver, a volunteer firefighter, Justice of the Peace, coach, businessman, and farmer. Raised on the family farm established by his father near Culver, Barber remained closely tied to Central Oregon throughout his life and was remembered both for distinguished military service and for his modest insistence that he was just doing his job.