Robley Rex
Robley Henry Rex (May 2, 1901 – April 28, 2009) was an American soldier from Kentucky who lived to be 107. He was the last Kentucky World War I-era veteran and one of the last U.S. veterans connected to World War I.
Rex was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and joined the Army in May 1919, six months after the armistice. He served as a private first class in the 5th Infantry Division and later the 8th Infantry Division, including time in the Intelligence Unit. He trained at Camp Zachary Taylor in Kentucky and Fort Meade in Maryland, and he served in Germany in Andernach and Koblenz after the war.
He was discharged in August 1922 and returned to Louisville, where he worked as a postal worker and became an ordained Methodist minister. He married Gracie Bivins in 1922; they had no children. Gracie died in 1992.
Starting in 1986, Rex volunteered at the Louisville VA Medical Center, logging more than 14,000 hours of service and visiting the center three days a week even after turning 105. For his 107th birthday, he received the Kentucky Governor’s Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service, and in 2005 he was named National Volunteer of the Year by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Rex died at the Louisville VA Medical Center four days before his 108th birthday and was buried at Zachary Taylor National Cemetery. In 2010, the Louisville VA Medical Center was renamed the Robley Rex VA Medical Center in his honor. After his death, Frank Buckles became the last surviving U.S. World War I-era veteran.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 16:55 (CET).