PHOENIX, AZ, USA U.S. Army SPC, HHT, 3D BATTALION, 8TH CAVALRY REGIMENT, FORT HOOD, TX MOSUL, IRAQ 02/09/2009
Daniel Aureli, the brother of Albert R. Jex’s mother, Cathleen MacFarlane, recalled a man skillful with a hammer and wrench.
When it seemed like things weren’t going to get fixed, Albert always said, ‘Putty and paint makes it what it ain’t,’ Aureli recalled.
Jex, 23, of Phoenix, was killed Feb. 9 when a suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle at a police checkpoint in Mosul. He was assigned to Fort Hood
Specialist Jex was a tremendous soldier. Only the best of the best serve on teams like the Personal Security Team, and that was Albert: all-American, the best of the best, Brigadier General Thomas Cole said.
He was named after his great-uncle Albert Jex, who was killed while in the service of his country, and then was nicknamed Albie after a video game puppet.
Jex would make a joke in the tensest moments and make everyone around him feel more at ease. He was a sweetheart, said classmate Cassandra Trautwein. He was there for everybody. He really was. It didn’t matter who you were, what your social, political goal was, he was there for you. He accepted everybody.
He also is survived by his wife, Monica.