Lee Rush

The following profile was researched and compiled by Candice L. Buchanan and Glenn J. R. T. Toothman III, for www.RainDayBoys.com.

Birth: 18 February 1886 Kuhntown, Center Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania

Parents: Duvall Rush and Christina Yeager

Residence at time of enlistment: Oak Forest, Center Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania

Physical description: Medium height, medium build, blue eyes, black hair

Death: Killed in action 1 October 1918 Argonne Forest, France

Age at death: 32 years old

Last resting place: 23 October 1921 Pursley Baptist Church Cemetery, Wayne Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania

Military rank: Serial No. 3180454. Private.

37th Company, 10th Training Battalion, 155th Depot Brigade

Company E, 2nd Infantry Replacement and Training Battalion

40th Provisional Company (August Automatic Replacement Draft)

Company I, 111th Infantry, 28th Division

Witness account of death: Statement given by Sgt. Clarence Haley. "On the morning of Oct. 1, 1918, while making the hill of La Chene Fondu, we were constantly under heavy machine gun fire. Pvt. Rush who was then in my platoon was advancing on my right, as we came in contact with the enemy they opened up on us causing many casualties. I saw Rush drop to the ground and noticed he head been hit in the head and left hip, all he said was "Oh my head," then died. He was taken down by our burying detail and buried under the direction of our Chaplain, Lt. Simoni, 3rd Bat., 111th Inf., at the foot of Le Chene Fondu in the Argonne Forest."

Additional information:

Lee Rush had been a laborer in the gas fields near his home before leaving for military training at Camp Lee, Virginia, in the Summer of 1918.

SOURCES:

  • "Body of Lee Rush, Killed in Action in France, Arrives Here" article, Waynesburg Republican, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, 27 October 1921.
  • "Two More Greene County Soldiers Reported Killed" article, Waynesburg Republican, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, 14 November 1918.
  • "United States, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6482 : accessed 16 April 2018), Lee Rush draft card, serial no. 174, Local Draft Board, East Center Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania; citing National Archives microfilm publication M1509, FHL roll 1892940.
  • "WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=60884 : accessed 16 April 2018), Margaret Huffman, sister of Lee Rush - application no. 257925; citing World War I Veterans Service and Compensation File, 1934–1948 (RG 19, Series 19.91), Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.