I don't know if any of you remember Rex Barnes. He posted here only briefly. I still remember his post that got quite a reaction around here, during the last election:
Rex's post about the war on terror.
Rex was not a very active CEG'er, but he was a hell of a guy. Professor of History. World War II veteran (fought in the battle of Tarawa, flying heavy and slow Thunderbolts against much nimbler Mitsubishi Zeros, and blew a few surprized Japanese pilots out of the sky). Amazing baritone soloist, pretty good pianist. Civil War expert, and owner of a collection of 1860's guns and other old war stuff. Genuine know-it-all. First-class grouch. Contour owner. My neighbor.
Like many men of his generation, Rex wouldn't talk much about his accomplishments. He was especially reluctant to talk about WWII. I asked him about it a few times. After he told me about flying over the thousands of dead Marines on the beach at Tarawa, he just looked away and couldn't say any more. We stuck to other topics after that.
He died less than a year after his wife passed away. Just overwhelmed with grief after losing his wife of 57 years. She was the only woman he ever dated, he once told me. She was also his soprano-voiced accompanyist, for nearly six decades. You should have heard them hold a tune, even at the age of 80+.
Rex was always a gruff, somber bastid, but after his wife passed away, he was really feeling down. I thought he needed to focus his (still sharp) mind on something, so I told him about CEG, and got him to read some of the stuff you guys were writing about the election. It lit a fire under him for the first time in months. He once told me that he really enjoyed "duking it out with those Contour rascals", meaning you guys. CEG kept him enthused for some weeks, but he fell ill around the end of last year, and never really got better. Passed away last week.
Thanks, CEG, for giving old Rex some good old fashioned mental exercise (and companionship) when he needed it most.
Godspeed, Major Barnes.
....RIP 
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Black & Tan 2000 SVT Contour #2137 of 2150
35,000 miles & counting !