Oneal Rush was born on October 12, 1919 in South Carolina. He was a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers soldier, and six other service members were aboard an C-47A Skytrain aircraft that departed from Shingbwiyang, Burma to Myitkyina, Burma, on an air supply mission. Rush and the six service members were reported missing in action when the airplane failed to reached its destination. Soon after the loss and following the war, Army personnel attempted to locate the aircraft wreckage, but were unsuccessful. Subsequently, in 1945, a military review board declared Rush and the other six service members to be presumed dead and his remains non-recoverable.

On March 10, 2003, Burmese officials informed the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) team of a crash site and a local villager handed over material evidence that correlated to two crew members aboard the Skytrain. JPAC investigated this site in November 2004, and recovered Rush's remains, aircraft wreckage and cargo. To identify the remains, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools such as dental comparisons and mitochondrial DNA — which matched that of Rush's niece. The six other service member have yet to be identified as of October 22, 2013.

Oneal's remains have been recovered and he is now interred in the Saint John Freewill Baptist Church Cemetery, Galivants Ferry, South Carolina. He was one of over 2000 Americans who lost their lives defending China from their Japanese invaders from 1941-1945. He is also commemorated on the The Monument to the Aviation Martyrs in the War of Resistance Against Japan in Nanjing, China.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov