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RE:KIA-MIA Memorial Homepage
2nd Lt. Rex D. Arnold (Xita files)
Also, some great info at http://hometown.aol.com/medalcol/purple_hearts_of_world_war_ii.htm.
2nd Lt. Rex D. Arnold, O-684459, B-24J, Co-Pilot, 374th Bomb Squadron, 308th Bomb Group, 14th Air Force. Killed in Action on 26 May 1944 when his aircraft his the side of a mountain in bad weather while on a Radar Reconnaissance mission from Chengkung airfield, China to Hainan Island in the South China Sea. Born on 11 February 1922, he entered the service on 26 June 1943 from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
2nd Lt. Arnold served in the China-India-Burma Theater as the Co-Pilot of B-24 #42-100040. The 308th Bomb Group was based in China and supported Chinese ground forces, and attacked Japanese shipping. On 26 May 1944, Lt. Arnold's aircraft took off from Chengkung Airfield. Approximatky one hour into the mission, the aircraft crashed about 50 miles south of Mengtze, China near the present day border of Vietnam. Eyewitnesses report that the aircraft crashed into the side of the Morshih Kou Shan mountain near the villages of Na Fa and Ta Shen as it apparently was attempting to get under the poor weather. Because the aircraft was carrying extra fuel tanks in the bomb bays, the aircraft exploded with such force that only small traces of the aircraft were ever recovered. 2nd Lt. Arnold's body was never recovered and he was pronounced dead on 27 May 1945. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal and Purple Heart.
He is listed on the Tablet of the Missing at Fort Bonifacio Military Cemetery, Manila, Philippine Islands. He was 23 years old.
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