Captain Charles W. Rush, Jr., USN (ret.) graduated from the US naval academy in 1941 and first saw combat aboard a destroyer in the south pacific. When his ship returned to Pearl Harbor, he volunteered for submarine duty. He survived seven war patrols in the submarines thresher and billfish. On January 9, 2002, the President of the United States awarded the NAVY CROSS to Captain Charles W. Rush, Jr. for Extraordinary Heroism While Engaged in Military Operations on 11 November l943. Since his retirement from the Navy in 1961, Captain Rush has served as a representative for a major aviation business and has served as a consultant for ocean systems and submarine safety matters.

Captain Charles W. Rush, Jr. is the author of The Complete Book of Submarines; Striker's Men; and, Battle Downunder.

According to the book description of Battle Downunder, “after the Japanese attack on pearl harbor --December 7, 1941 -- American submarines loaded torpedoes and set out for combat in the western pacific. They sent Japanese ships to the bottom of distant seas where all American and allied surface ships had been destroyed.  This is the story of one submarine that fought its way across the vast pacific, through the East Indies, and down the Indian ocean to western Australia, the land downunder. Based there, joined by other subs, the submarine striker penetrated enemy strongholds in the java and south china seas and decimated convoys of ships laden with invasion troops and munitions. Many submarines never returned from their combat patrols. That did not diminish the courage and determination of those who survived.”

According to the book description of Striker's Men, it “is a novel incorporating historic events into the war patrols of a fictitious submarine, USS Striker. It further describes the intense romance of Lt. Rhett with his future bride in Freemantle, Australia, wartime homeport of the submarine.”