Senate Joint Resolution 38

Whereas Rex T. Barber, a retired United States Air Force Colonel born in Culver, Oregon, now deceased, was based at Fighter II Airfield, Guadalcanal, in April 1943 when he was chosen to participate in a dangerous, top secret mission in his P-38 Lightning; and

Whereas American military intelligence had broken the Japanese code and had learned that Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander of the Japanese combined fleet and strategist behind the attack on Pearl Harbor, was flying to Bougainville in the Solomon Islands to inspect troops at the Japanese naval base; and

Whereas Rex T. Barber took off from Guadalcanal in the early morning hours of April 18, 1943, flying his P-38 Lightning in a sixteen-plane unit, led by Major John Mitchell, and the unit flew for 435 miles at no more than 50 feet above the ocean to avoid detection on a mission to intercept and shoot down the plane carrying Admiral Yamamoto; and

Whereas Rex T. Barber's attack unit successfully intercepted Admiral Yamamoto's plane and, after a brief but fierce air battle, Admiral Yamamoto's plane was shot down by Rex T. Barber and crashed in flames in the thick jungle on Bougainville, killing Admiral Yamamoto and his crew; and

Whereas Rex T. Barber and all but one member of his unit safely returned to a hero's welcome at Fighter II, and although the fog of war and the mists of time have caused confusion as to which pilot in the attack unit shot down Admiral Yamamoto's plane, recent research proves that Rex T. Barber should be given 100 percent credit for the heroic feat; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Oregon:

That the Oregon Transportation Commission is directed to name the newly constructed bridge over the Crooked River on U.S. Route 97 the “Rex T. Barber Veterans Memorial Bridge.”

Filed in the office of Secretary of State April 16, 2003

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