RESUME of ACTIVITIES
7 January to 19 June, 1951
On 29 May the RUSH departed Sasebo as a unit of Task Force 95 and arrived off the east coast of Korea on 30 May. The RUSH was
assigned duties as the bomb line destroyer off the front lines and
operated vigorously in direct support of U.N. troops ashore.
Bombardments were conducted on 33 separate occasions
expending hundreds of rounds of ammunition on various targets such
as towns, bridges, bivouac areas, railroads, motorized transport, direct
support of troops and interdiction firing.
On two occasions the RUSH assisted friendly troops to escape
"
miniature Dunkerques"from the beaches into sampans and junks
when the troops were overwhelmed by larger forces. This was
possible as a result of accurate and heavy fire into the enemy ranks.
The enemy was forced to retire inland.
On those occasions the RUSH treated many badly wounded troops
who were evacuated.
On the night of 6-7 June the RUSH had targets assigned to assist
friendly troops repulsing a large enemy attack on the front lines. The
devastating and accurate fire delivered brought praises from all quarters.
It is said that when communist troops leave their rice behind they are
really in a hurry. That particular night they left everything behind. The
firing at times was as close as 150 yards from our own troops. The
efforts of the RUSH produced such spectacular results that the
Commanding General of the 11th ROK Division, Brigadier General
Oh Duk Jun, at his own request, came aboard and presented the ship
with scrolled citations from the 13th Regiment and 11th Division
Commanders. This ceremony took place on board ship off shore at
the front lines.
My Dad, George Akers Jr., was the Fire Controlman(FC) on the
USS William R. Rush(RUSH) for these operations. Not only did the
Rush receive scrolled citations, but my Dad received a signed
Commendation letter from Harry S. Truman, President of the United
States of America.
My Dad's duties, during this operation, were the control of various
forms of range finding gear, and solving ballistic calculations to control
the firing of the ships guns.
My Dad, like a lot of people that have done military service for this
country, never talked about his time in the military. We always had his
Navy picture on the wall of our house, as well as a picture of the
USS Laffey, which was another Naval Destroyer my Dad was on during
his tour of duty.
My sisters and I found these
things out about my Dad, as we
were going through my Mom's
cedar chest, after Dad passed away.
We found my Dad's medals and
The Commendation Letter for my
Dad's skills as a Fire Controlman
and his accuracy, that saved
countless lives.
As we remember those that have
passed away, this Memorial Day
weekend. Let's remember all the
Reluctant Heroes. Those Heroes we
only find out about, after they're gone.
No comments:
Post a Comment