Submariner Receives Navy Cross
Interview with Captain Charlie Rush, USN (Ret.)
On 5 April 2002, Rear Admiral Paul Sullivan (left), director of the U.S. Navy's Division of Submarine Warfare, presented Captain Charlie Rush with the Navy Cross at the U.S. Naval Academy's Memorial Hall—for heroic deeds performed 58 years before. On 11 November 1943, in the Japanese-controlled Makassar Strait off the Dutch East Indies, he took over control of the USS Billfish (SS-286) during a depth-charge attack that had incapacitated the submarine's top three officers. His efforts, along with those of several crew members, saved the boat. Captain Rush, whose Navy career spanned 20 years, recently told the story behind this extraordinary medal presentation to the Naval Institute's Paul Stillwell and Fred L. Schultz. It is published here for the first time.
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