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| Pvt. Newie Rushing served with the 716th Railroad Operating Battalion until he died in a train crash. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46733904/newie-t-rushing "The soldier-railroaders' story of the 716th Railway Operating Battalion" |
Newie T. Rushing never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on June 8, 1918 in Mississippi. His parents Newie and Alice were born in Mississippi and Louisiana, respectively. His father worked as a section farmer and later as a railroad man. He died in 1933 after a long illness. Newie had three older sisters and a twin brother who also served in WW2. By 1940 Newie had completed three years of high school. He worked as a railroad brakeman. He and his wife, the former Edith Booty, had a son that died in infancy and a daughter that survived him.
He was drafted into the Army on November 6, 1943. He became a private in Company C, 716th Railroad Operating Battalion. The 716 ROB provided transportation of troops and supplies in France during 1944.
On November 11, 1944 Pvt. Rushing was injured in a train wreck when the engine he was on crashed into another train. He died later that day.
His grave is at Osyka Cemetery, Osyka, Mississippi. I don't know what happened to his wife or daughter.
Robert Preston
Also born on the same day at Newie Rushing was Robert Preston Meservey from Massachusetts. He became an actor, after dropping his last name, and made a few movies beginning in 1938 including Beau Geste. He left Hollywood to serve in the Army Air Forces in 1942. He served as an intelligence officer in 386th Bombardment Group, 9th Air Force with the rank of captain.
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| https://i.pinimg.com/originals/53/67/7c/53677cc32ac15818288712c59d5b180f.jpg |
We will never know what accomplishments Newie Rushing and the rest of the 400,000 plus fallen could have achieved if they would have come home.
Last year on this date I profiled 101st Airborne paratrooper Ralph Poloian, as well as future Supreme Court Justice Byron White. You can read about Ralph and Byron here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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