Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 37 Within 200 yards of the summit, there was no progress. His men were pinned down by devastating enemy fire. Night was coming and even if they somehow unseated the enemy, Roy knew his bone tired men would be counterattacked in force. There was no support in place for a night battle. Roy contacted the company commander and advised him to stand down and get permission to call off the attack. The commander agreed and the next morning the forces moved onto the hill virtually unopposed as the enemy had withdrawn. Rushton's decision to halt the attack was credited with saving numerous lives. And while Rushton started the battle as a Corporal, he finished as a Sergeant. Roy in Korea Rushton's service in Korea came to an end in 1951 because of a hearing problem, his son Robert says. Once he was discharged, he returned to running his store for several years, and he and his wife Margaret raised four sons together, two of whom would join the military. Rushton never abandoned military life. He joined different regiments and later served as an instructor with the Halifax Rifles, Pictou Highlanders and Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. He also worked as a commissionaire and later started his own small appliance repair business. Even in retirement, Rushton kept his sense of adventure. He exercised it by travelling and in his decision to jump out of an airplane at 65, his son says. As the jump unfolded, Rushton looked to be in danger of landing in a water reservoir. "He started playing with the cords and he ended up slamming into the side of the hill, just below the airport," his son recalls. "He hurt his knee - he couldn't walk on it for about three weeks - but that's the type of adventurous man he was. He would do things out of the blue, just like that." Roy was able to visit Korea again in July 2003, as a Veteran delegate with a Korean War Pilgrimage group sponsored by Veterans Affairs Canada. Most of those who served with him have passed on. Those who have not surely remember the gregarious, good natured, tough as nails soldier. Roy Rushton, Front Left
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