by Lynn Vincent
swam toward his future: 317, 501. Also: Woolston LEGACY interviews.
Many screamed in agony: PRESS, 4.
did not have time to code a message: PRESS, 5.
One of the men yelling was Lyle Umenhoffer: Umenhoffer LEGACY interview.
“We’ll be back to get you!”: 317, 482.
looked as though they would not be found: MCVAY NARRATIVE, 8.
Hensley pulled Harrell aboard: Account of Harrell’s rescue and reunion with Spooner is based on DEPTHS, 139–40.
Claytor did receive a secret dispatch: CLAYTOR, 1.
summa cum laude graduate of Harvard Law: Phillips, Don. “W. Graham Claytor Jr., 82, Ex–Amtrak President, Dies.” The Washington Post, May 15, 1994.
At 4:33 p.m., a dispatch from Peleliu: CLAYTOR, 1.
he had maintained constant contact: Ibid.
“If they blow, they blow”: Charles Doyle LEGACY interview.
Chapter 16
the ensign broke away swimming for the Dumbo: The account of Thomas Brophy, Jr.’s death is based on LEGACY interviews with Harlan Twible, Adolfo Celaya, and Don Howison.
left Leenerman’s lifeless body in the raft: 317, 280. Leenerman, LEGACY interview.
without stepping on survivors: GREATNESS, 3.
bringing the number of rescued to fifty-three: Ibid. Also: PRESS, 5.
the captain and his men saw another plane: 317, 204. MCVAY NARRATIVE, 8.
darkness that was remarkably complete: MARKS 1960, 5.
Streaming a sea anchor from the bow: GREATNESS, 3.
a partially full water breaker: Ibid.
“I’ve had mine”: Ibid., 4.
Chapter 17
Claytor had heard that Marks: CLAYTOR, 1.
“Turn on the searchlight and point it at the sky”: Wren, 77. Also: Claytor, 1.
Doyle gazed up at this unprecedented beacon: Charles Doyle LEGACY interview.
he had never seen a finer example of American courage: GREATNESS, 4.
The reaction on the Dumbo was electrifying: MARKS 1960, 6.
to avoid running anyone down: CLAYTOR, 1.
a lookout spotted a pistol flare in the distance: Ibid.
The transfer operation was wild and precarious: PRESS, 5. Also: Letter from Doyle motorwhaleboat crewman J. W. Brown, WREN, 78.
first survivors arrived alongside Doyle: WREN, 79.
Leenerman sputtered awake, shocking his rescuers: 317, 280. Also: Leenerman LEGACY interview.
Claytor had his communications officer draft a secret message: Naval Message dated 2 August 1945. Passed by Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet Advance Headquarters to Commander in Chief for Action. Pacific Dispatches, Commander in Chief Chart Room Files, November 1945. Record Group 38, Box 86, National Archives, College Park, Maryland.
covered in bold, red pencil marks: Ibid.
Chapter 18
the quartermaster, steered the ship: Lutz Notes. WREN, 45.
in the middle of a Hitchcock film: Ibid.
the whole thing was a Japanese trick: WREN, 40.
not terribly thrilled to be under Theriault’s command: Ensign Smook and QM1 Lutz’s reflections on Theriault are based on interviews by Sara Vladic with Smook and Lutz in 2014. LEGACY.
Van Wilpe, a nineteen-year-old: The account of Bill Van Wilpe is based on LEGACY interviews. Also: Van Wilpe Letters. WREN, 64, 68–72.
“Life raft, port beam!”: Lutz Notes. WREN, 40.
Soon a pair of LCVPs was waterborne: The account of the LCVP rescue boats from Bassett is based on the personal recollections of Peter Wren, Jack Broser, Al Lutz, Malcolm Smook, and Bill Van Wilpe. Sara Vladic interviewed all but Broser. Additional information came from letters and recollections included in WREN.
“No way,” the officer said: Bassett crew members spoke with author Sara Vladic of a “mutiny” in which the skipper, Theriault, wanted to flee the area, but his officers overrode him in order to rescue survivors. Two men, Sonarman Gunnar Gunheim and Lieutenant Anderson, Bassett’s chief engineer, witnessed the argument on the bridge. Our account is based on Wren, We Were There, 62–63; and author interviews with Bassett crew members Van Wilpe, Wren, Smook, Lutz, Jack Paul, and James Bargsley.
At 3:00 a.m., shouts went up: CLAYTOR, 2.
Peter Wren bounced his LCVP: The account of Bassett’s LCVP rescue is based on WREN, 38-71, and author interviews with Bassett crew members Van Wilpe, Wren, Smook, Lutz, Jack Paul, and James Bargsley.
It was Van Wilpe again: Fletcher, Carol. “Lifesaver Honored after 60 Years.” Record (Bergen, New Jersey), 2005. The full date on this clipping is obscured, but the article was published in 2005, in conjunction with the sixtieth anniversary of the Indianapolis sinking. Van Wilpe had by then worked for decades in the humble job of school district custodian, and few in the town of Wanaque, New Jersey, knew of his courage on that night in August 1945. In 2005, the entire town discovered they had a hero in their midst, and Van Wilpe, at age seventy-nine, was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, the highest noncombat medal for heroism.
Chapter 19
“Hell, yes!” Bray called back: Bray LEGACY interviews.
More rescue ships arrived: CLAYTOR, 2.
he took charge of the scene: CLAYTOR, 4.
refused the skipper’s daily offering of rations. Havins account. 317, 204.
“Fellas, do I see a ship”: Ibid.
Meyer said that a report of Ringness’s rescue efforts: Feuer, A. B. “Memories from the USS Indianapolis.” Warfare History Network. Accessed 28 September 2016. http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/memories-from-the-uss-indianapolis-ca-35/.
Meyer reminded McVay that a court of inquiry: Feuer, A. B. “Memories from the USS Indianapolis.” Warfare History Network.
it was possible that Lieutenant Orr: CONEY, McVay testimony, 315.
he felt the responsibility lay with himself: Ibid.
It included the lat/long: Naval Message from Commander William Meyer, skipper of USS Ringness, dated 3 August 1945. Record Group 38, Box 83, National Archives, College Park, Maryland. In this message, Meyer was notifying CincPac Advance and additional addressees that Ringness was en route to Peleliu with thirty-nine survivors of Indianapolis, including Captain Charles Butler McVay III. The latter part of the message gives the date and approximate location of the sinking and reads, “Speed 17 not zigzagging.”
Alcorn was able to take off: Memorandum for Air Operations Officer, Sub Area, Operations of VPB-23 on Indianapolis Rescue, 5 August–9 August 1945. Record Group 125, Box 35, National Archives, College Park, Maryland. (VPB-23)
Marks considered it too hazardous: Ibid. Also: PRESS, 5.
Ringness also scooped Glenn Morgan’s group: TORPEDOED. Also: 317, 352, and Morgan LEGACY interviews.
the quartermaster he worked with so closely: Quartermaster Vince Allard would later name his son, Glenn, after Morgan.
Captain McVay wanted to see him: Ibid.
more search planes streamed into the area: VPB-152, 1–3. VPB-23, 1–2.
Felton Outland, Giles McCoy, and four raftmates: Outland and McCoy’s raft contained S1c Robert H. Brundige, S1c Willis Gray, SC3c David Kemp, Jr., and S2c Edward Payne. Based on the interview with Felton Outland, Sr., LEGACY.
On August 4, Lieutenant Chuck Gwinn: VPB-152, 3.
on August 5, the dispatch said: Ibid.
last Indianapolis survivors pulled from the water: Once launched, the scope of the rescue effort was massive. First on the scene, Cecil J. Doyle rescued 93 men including the men from Adrian Marks’s PBY, Playmate 2. Cecil J. Doyle’s deck logs reported picking up 96 men, in chronological groups of 18, 22, 17, 10, 1, 6, and 22. 53 identified as coming from Marks’s PBY and 1 from Alcorn’s PBY. In the ship’s war diary they adjusted the report to reflect the rescue count as 93, which matches the number of men accounted for by both the Navy and author Sara Vladic’s records. Those rescued by Doyle originated mainly from the Haynes group. Bassett picked up the most men, 151 survivors, with the majority coming from
Redmayne’s group and Gibson’s floater net group. The Bassett cohort included survivors Sal Maldonado, Jimmy O’Donnell, Richard Stephens, and Joseph Mikolayek. Register left the scene with 37 survivors, 12 of which they rescued, 24 transferred from the Ralph Talbot, and 1 from the Dufilho Ringness picked up 39 men, including Captain McVay’s group, and those in Glenn Morgan’s group, including Louis Bitonti, James Belcher, and Adelore Palmiter. Ringness also picked up the very last group of men found alive, on the evening of August 3. This was Felton Outland’s raft group, which had split apart from Kuryla and the two other rafts earlier in the week. Bassett’s load of survivors spent several days recovering at Fleet Hospital #114 at Samar, Philippines. Soon after, they were loaded into planes and flown to Guam to take treatment with the rest of their mates. The survivors initially taken to Base Hospital #20 Peleliu by the other rescue ships later made the voyage to Guam in the gleaming white hospital ship Tranquility. With this, the greatly diminished cohort of sailors and marines were at last reunited at Base Hospital #18 on Guam. Of the ship’s 82 officers, including passenger Edwin Crouch, 15 survived. Of the enlisted crew, there were 311. Of the 39 marines, only 9 lived—none of them were officers. Because the steward’s compartment took a direct hit from Hashimoto’s second torpedo, most of the stewards died instantly. Two more jumped into the ship’s screws in front of George Horvath, and neither of the stewards assisted by Woolston survived. Sources (abbreviated; see Bibliography for full citations): SIGHTING. FLIGHT OPS. BASSETT DECK. CLAYTOR. DOYLE WAR. TODD. TODD 2. BODIES. KNOWN. FRENCH. REGISTER. WREN. 317. HULVER/VLADIC. Memorandum from LT Lee B. Cottrell USNR to Charles McVay, 8 August 1945. Casualty List for U.S. Naval Base Hospital No. 20, Report by Island Command Peleliu, 5 August 1945. Casualty Report prepared by Donald Blum. U.S. Fleet Hospital #114, 5 August 1945.
JANUARY 1999
Toti turned a page: Author interviews with Bill Toti, 2012–17.
even a sixth-grade kid: Nelson, Pete, and Preface by Hunter Scott. Left for Dead: A Young Man’s Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis. New York: Delacorte, 2002, 12. (LFD.)
graduating fourth in his 1965 academy class: Department of Defense. “Navy 4-star Admiral and Trident Scholar Dies.” www.navy.mil. U.S Navy, 28 May 2008. Web. 306 June 2017. http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=37463. (PILLING.)
Scott’s report was a book in itself: Cdr. Scott, R. D., JAGC, USN. “Report on the Court-Martial of Captain Charles B. McVay III, USN, Commanding Officer, USS Indianapolis.” NJAG 10.2 (18 June 1996). 149-End. Print. (SCOTT.)
“The Navy has never challenged”: SCOTT, Footnote 428.
Matsunaga of Hawaii read the Indianapolis story: Congressional Record, Proceedings and Debates of the 98th Congress, Second Session, Washington, D.C., Monday, July 30, 1984. Vol. 130. No. 98.
hope for exoneration flared briefly: Editorial board, “Justice at Sea.” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Monday, July 30, 1990.
the Murphys—Paul and Mary Lou: LEGACY interviews with Paul Murphy, 2005–16. Author interviews with Mary Lou Murphy, August 2, 2016.
BOOK 4: TRIAL AND SCANDAL
Chapter 1
sixteen reporters crowded around: Johnson, Malcolm. “Full Sinking Story Isn’t Out Yet, Reporter Says: Correspondent Hits Calling of Jap in McVay’s Trial, Cites Lack of Search for Cruiser.” Pittsburgh Press, December 29, 1945: n. Print. (JOHNSON.)
McVay had the presence of mind: Ibid. McVay asked that a stenographer be present to record his press interview at Peleliu. However, this transcript has not been made public and may be lost to history.
“That is my sixty-four-dollar question”: Ibid.
“I should think by noon”: Ibid.
McVay left no doubt in his mind: Ibid.
young trees in a gale: Furman, Robert. Handwritten account of events at Tinian Island on August 6, 1945. 7 August 1945. Two pages Box 1. Papers of Robert Furman, Library of Congress. 1. (TINIAN.)
fifteen seconds after 9:15 a.m.: “Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombing Timeline.” Atomic Heritage Foundation.
Furman broke away and joined the stream: TINIAN, 1.
The most senior was General: TINIAN, 2. ALSO: Christman, Albert B. Target Hiroshima: Deak Parsons and the Creation of the Atomic Bomb. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute, 1998, 194. (TARGET.)
“The chimera of one air operation”: Mets, David R. (1997) [1988]. Master of Airpower: General Carl A. Spaatz (paperback ed.).
“Attention to orders!”: TARGET. 194. Christman writes, “Later, in the briefing room, under plainer circumstances, Brig. Gen. John H. Davies awarded Parsons the Silver Star.” When one officer complained that it had really been Parsons, and not Tibbets, running the show, Parsons paraphrased a nineteenth-century adage that seems to have originated among clergy: “There is no limit to the good a man can do if he doesn’t care who gets the credit.”
“saw a Jap city and wrecked same”: TINIAN, 2.
“No one could do anything without you”: Ibid.
equal to what any remote: TINIAN, 1.
seventy thousand structures in Hiroshima were leveled: HASTINGS, 477.
“a small number of B-29s” causing “considerable damage”: LONGEST, 21.
killed between 80,000 and 130,000 people: Atomic Heritage Foundation, “Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombing Timeline.” Accessed at https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/hiroshima-and-nagasaki-bombing-timeline, July 27, 2017.
“It is an atomic bomb”: Statement by the President Announcing the Use of the A-Bomb at Hiroshima; Public Papers, Harry S. Truman Library, 6 August 1945.
The tragedy of Hiroshima must not be repeated: LONGEST, 22.
“more pressing business”: Ibid.
Newspapers and leaflets: Given the extent of the effort, it is extraordinary that many Americans are not aware that Japanese cities were warned before being bombed. The Japanese text on the reverse side of the leaflet carried the following warning: “Read this carefully as it may save your life or the life of a relative or friend. In the next few days, some or all of the cities named on the reverse side will be destroyed by American bombs. These cities contain military installations and workshops or factories that produce military goods. We are determined to destroy all of the tools of the military clique, which they are using to prolong this useless war. But, unfortunately, bombs have no eyes. So, in accordance with America’s humanitarian policies, the American Air Force, which does not wish to injure innocent people, now gives you warning to evacuate the cities named and save your lives. America is not fighting the Japanese people but is fighting the military clique, which has enslaved the Japanese people. The peace, which America will bring, will free the people from the oppression of the military clique and mean the emergence of a new and better Japan. You can restore peace by demanding new and good leaders who will end the war. We cannot promise that only these cities will be among those attacked but some or all of them will be, so heed this warning and evacuate these cities immediately.” (See Richard S. R. Hubert, “The OWI Saipan Operation,” Official Report to US Information Service, Washington, D.C., 1946.)
drop 63 million leaflets over the country: “The Information War in the Pacific, 1945.” Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed at https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol46no3/article07.html, May 6, 2009.
on a portico overlooking the Pacific: Hughes, Paul. “Survivors of the Indianapolis had no criticism of McVay.” Louisville Courier-Journal, 9 December 1945.
Spruance arrived at the hospital: LEGACY interview with Don McCall. Sudyk, Bob. “Redemption For Sailor Joe.” Hartford Courant. N.p., 21 June 1998. Web. 15 March 2014. MacGregor, Jill Noblit. Unsinkable: The Inspiring True Story of USS Indianapolis Survivor: ROBERT P. GAUSE, QM1. Ed. Julie Gabell. 1st ed. N.p.: Self-published, 2014. Amazon Digital Services LLC, 14 March 2014. Kindle.
Lebow read the letter: LEGACY interview with Lebow.
Horvath wrote lies to his wife: George Horvath, letter to his wife, Alice Mae, Augus
t 9, 1945. Written from the base hospital at Guam.
Was it possible, Johnson wondered: JOHNSON.
Guam public affairs personnel asked: Ibid.
Chapter 2
their enemies had increased by one: Japan’s Longest Day. 1990 ed. Eighth Printing. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1968, 22. (LONGEST.)
endless supply of these apocalyptic weapons: Atomic Heritage Foundation, Nagasaki Mission. Accessed at http://www.atomicheritage.org/history/bombings-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-1945. July 27, 2017.
Bockscar released Fat Man: Ibid.
Nimitz had ordered a court of inquiry: Naval Message from Admiral Nimitz, CincPac Advance Headquarters, dated 11 August 1945, ordering the Court of Inquiry at Guam. Record Group 38, Box 83, National Archives, College Park, Maryland.
a series of grim lists took shape: List of Missing Personnel—USS Indianapolis. Record Group 125, Box 35. National Archives, College Park, Maryland. (This list is eighteen pages long and to read it is heart-wrenching.)
USS French reported bodies found: “Bodies Found by USS French (DE-367).” Record Group 125, Box 35, National Archives, College Park, Maryland.
the survivors had two nurses: Interview with Lyle Umenhoffer.
he had withdrawn $250: Ibid. $250 in 1945 would be more than $3,000 today.
Each brother learned for the first time: Martha, R.S. “Eyewitness Story of USS Indianapolis Disaster: Argus-Leader (Sioux Falls, South Dakota), October 7, 1945.
Furman wanted to at least visit the survivors: Interview with Robert Furman by author Richard Newcomb, Hotel Stacy-Trent, May 17, 1957.
“if I had asked you about the uranium?”: Author interviews with John Woolston.
ready to determine the fate of Japan: LONGEST, 31.
apologized to the emperor for requesting his presence: According to the Pacific War Research Society, “The tradition was immemorial that the Japanese government never approached the Throne with a problem until the government’s own solution to the problem was unanimous. The Emperor himself neither took sides nor stated his own opinion: he merely approved what the government had already decided. His August Mind was not to be disturbed by party strife and political ambition; the responsibility for decisions made and actions taken was never his. To present him with a divided cabinet was unthinkable.” LONGEST, 29.