Military reflections

• Charlie Rush recalls his 27 years of service in the Navy, which took him through three wars.

Cathy Higgins

PUTNEY — More than six decades ago, longtime Putney resident Charlie Rush enlisted in the Navy in hopes of finding more excitement than life on his family's Arkansas farm offered.

That one decision would lead him to serve in not one or two, but three wars.

Rush's 27-year career in the Navy's medical field started when he was just 17 years old.

"I turned 17 the 11th of December in 1942," Rush said, "and I was sworn in Feb. 17, 1943."

Because the Monet, Ark., native wasn't yet a legal adult, he had to get his parents' permission to enlist. And they did so without resistance.

"There really wasn't much said," the youngest of six said.

Following boot camp, Rush began working in the medical field by serving with the 4th Marine Division on Tinian Island during World War II.

"We went in with the force to take the island," Rush said.

Once U.S. forces secured the Pacific island, the Navy set up a hospital.

"It started as a 500-bed hospital," he said, explaining that it wasn't long before the facility doubled in size. "We made it a 1,000-bed hospital with three surgical wards."

While serving there, Rush encountered patients from "all over the Pacific." But his most vivid memory of that experience stands out more than tending to the many sick and injured.

"I watched the atomic bomb being loaded," Rush said. "We knew what it was and what it was supposed to do: end the war, which it did."

Rush and a few of his colleagues got a glimpse of the history-making missile while on the way to pick up a soldier suffering from appendicitis.

"They held us up while they were loading it," he recalled.

Once Rush's enlistment was up not long after World War II ended, he went back home to Arkansas.

But that didn't last long.

"I went back to the farm," Rush said. "It hadn't changed, and I didn't like it. So I went back. I got out in '46 and went back a year later."

Re-enlisting provided more benefits than just getting away from home. During Rush's second stint in the Navy, he was stationed at a Naval hospital at Camp Lajeune, N.C.

"There I met my wife Nell," he said, "and we got married. We've been married 58 years."

But Rush didn't stay stateside for long. When the Korean War broke out, he went overseas to serve with the 1st Marine Division.

"I stayed a little better than a year," Rush said. "I was on the highest mountain in Korea."

He recalled it being a miserable experience.

"I drew straws three times to get to come home," Rush said, "and lost all three times."

The altitude made for a frigid winter, with temperatures dipping to 44 degrees below zero.

"It was cold," Rush said.

The summer heat was just as extreme.

"Especially when we were climbing a mountain or marching and drilling," Rush said.

When the Palmyra Hospital retiree first arrived in Korea, he served with an infantry unit.

"The Chinese had come down and pushed U.S. forces back to Puson," he recalled. "But we pushed them back to the 38th parallel."

But after three months, Rush was needed back on medical duty.

"I moved back to a field medical hospital," he said.

Rush was placed in the surgical ward, but the surroundings were much different than in the Pacific.

"This was a tent," he said, citing the television classic "M*A*S*H" as a description of the buildings.

Rush explained that several innovations emerged from that environment.

"They experimented with neurosurgery," he said. "It was a success, and neurosurgery is common today in the field."

The father of three also recalled having to use sulfadizine to kill infections.

"That's what we used instead of penicillin because they hadn't developed penicillin yet," Rush said. "It was fairly successful, but not as good as penicillin."

Not all their methods worked. Rush recalled trying to use a paraffin wax mixture to coat the burns of a Navy pilot who was burned on 95 percent of his body.

"We dipped him in it," Rush said. "But the sterilization broke. He developed an infection and died."

After the Korean War, Rush served aboard an aircraft carrier before being introduced to his future home by serving a year at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany.

"I was here before they built the dispensary," he said. "It was in the old Haley House, and old wooden house."

On a daily basis Rush and his colleagues addressed anything from colds and sore throats to cuts and fractures.

"If we had anybody real sick, we sent them to the Naval hospital in Jacksonville, Fla.," he said.

But Rush wouldn't remain in Albany long. In 1958 he was stationed in Memphis, Tenn., to serve as a medical inspector and instructor.

Seven years later, Rush once again saw wartime duty by serving a two-year stint with the 3rd Marine Division as a senior medical representative in Vietnam, where he received a commendation.

"It was essentially the same as Korea," he said.

When Rush returned to the United States, he once again came to the Good Life City and remained until retiring in 1971.

Although it started as a way to see what was beyond his Arkansas home, Rush looks on his time in the Navy with fondness.

"I had a good career," Rush said. "I met some of the finest people and best doctors. I guess I wouldn't have it any other way."

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DANNY G. THOMAS, Faces of Faith
Making music a lifetime ministry

• The Rev. Danny G. Thomas makes sure First Baptist Church of Camilla's music program ministers to its members.

Cathy Higgins

CAMILLA — For almost five years Danny G. Thomas had led the music ministry at First Baptist Church of Camilla.

The 59-year-old is one of five staff members that lead the Mitchell County congregation.

Each week the son of a retired minister leads approximately 250 of the church's 800 members in a blend of traditional and contemporary music selections, all with the help of a 43-member sanctuary choir he works with on a weekly basis.

On Wednesdays, Thomas can be found overseeing the four children's choirs.

"We have Tiny Tots," he said, "which is 2- and 3-year-olds."

Although this group is intended just to teach the toddlers to "stand and sing without walking away," the other group's abilities advance with their ages, as indicated with their names.

"The Beginners are 4 and 5 years old," Thomas said. "The first-third graders are Music Marks, and grades four-six are Music Makers."

Thomas also prepares special programs, such as for Christmas and Easter, beginning work months in advance.

"For Christmas, I started in August this year," he said. "For Easter, we'll start Jan. 17."

He also plans special treats for his congregation.

"Alex Reshetnichenko is going to play for us in January," Rush said. "He's a violinist with the Albany Symphony Orchestra."

As associate pastor, Thomas has additional responsibilities, as well.

"I work with our senior adults, and do visiting and weddings," he explained.

First Baptist Church of Camilla is only the fourth church Thomas has served in during his 37 years of ministry. With wife Barbara "Bobbie" beside him, he has also made his home in Beaufort, N.C., and Savannah.

Thomas knew early in life that ministry would be for him.

"I was a teenager when I felt the Lord wanted me to do something," he recalled. "I just didn't know what."

Having sung in various choirs, himself, over the years led Thomas to realize music ministry was his calling. But it took some persuasion.

"I was an extremely shy person," he said. "I was embarrassed to sing in front of my wife. But the Lord directed me."

That direction led Thomas to earn his bachelor of science degree in Bible and music from Free Will Baptist Bible College in Nashville, Tenn., and his master's degree in music education from Georgia State University.

Just as Thomas followed in his father's footsteps, his three children are also drawn to ministry.

"My daughter works with the International Missions Board," he said. "One son is a minister of music in Greenville, N.C., and my oldest son is a bivocational minister of music at East Albany."

Faces of Faith are generally nominated by members of the community. If you know of a Southwest Georgia pastor, minister, priest or rabbi that you think should be profiled, e-mail your nominee and reasons they would make a good Faces of Faith profile to SouthView at southview@albanyherald.com. Please include contact information for the nominee.

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