- Date Of Birth: April 5, 1921
- Date Of Death: August 26, 2012
- State: Colorado
Rex L. McDonald died August 26, 2012 at the age of 91. Rex was born April 5, 1921 on a farm near Moline, Kansas. Rex was the 7th child born to Jessie and Bessie (Long) McDonald. When Rex was 11 months old his father died leaving his mother to raise all seven children. Soon afterward the family moved to the small town of Moline, where his mother took in washing and his two oldest brothers had paper routes, in order to support the family. When Rex was 13 years old he began working in a local café as a dishwasher, the same café where his brother Jesse was the fry cook. In the summertime he worked in the wheat fields during the day and at the café in the evening. After graduating from Moline High School in 1939, Rex joined the Navy. Rex continued to support his mother by sending his monthly salary of $36.00 a month to her, until she remarried three years later. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 Rex was aboard the USS Chicago, a ship which had just left Pearl Harbor two days earlier escorting an aircraft carrier bound for Midway. Upon receiving word of the attack, the ship was ordered to search for and destroy the enemy. They never made contact with the enemy. Then on December 23rd the USS Chicago returned to Pearl Harbor. It was a horrible sight, with most of the battle force destroyed.
