Posted on 07/10/2023 7:56:04 AM PDT by DFG
Longtime Benician Harold Bray, a humble man, claims he is no hero.
Benicians — and well, many Americans — beg to differ.
They think he’s as good as gold. Well, maybe closer to bronze.
With the passing of Cleatus Lebow in October at the age of 98, Bray is the lone living survivor from the legendary USS Indianapolis. On Friday night in front of the city’s clock tower, Bray was celebrated and honored for his service with the unveiling of a statue made by Matt Glenn.
The life-sized bronze statue stands nearly 7 feet tall, affixed to a pedestal. It will eventually be moved to a location on First Street in the city, where it will be surrounded by several bronze sponsorship legacy plaques, personalized engraved bricks, concrete benches, and a storyboard displaying the history of Bray and the USS Indianapolis.
The Benicia Community Foundation, Inc. worked with the City of Benicia, Benicia Veterans Memorial Hall, and Solano County to design the tribute to Bray.
Bray, who just turned 96, chose not to speak at the event — but others were all too eager to serenade him with stories of his kindness and bravery. Bray politely listened, occasionally smiling and nodding while sitting in a huge white chair one might send for royalty.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesheraldonline.com ...
Hopefully the marxists will leave it alone.
I saw it again many years later and then, after having read many WW2 books, the scene riveted me as I knew exactly what the USS Indianapolis surviors went through. The later scene in the movie (when Quint gets eaten) was then quite ironic. He survived the sharks back then only to be eaten by one thirty years later. Well cinematically, of course.
Just consider this, this old veteran has surely seen the movie “Jaws” ... just imagine what it was like for him to watch that scene...
The mass shark attack when the Indianapolis was torpedoed was basically a declaration of war against the human race on Earth by ****ing fish. The balance of nature does not miss carnosaurs and it would not miss sharks. And we could exterminate sharks for less effort and money than this war in Ukraine.
Sad. I read the book with the mentioned name as the title.
Infuriating how the top brass dropped the ball causing the sinking (didnt send a sufficient escort, didnt have the ship take the standard evasive maneuvers). Then after the sinking they failed to act promptly in locating the survivors.
After that and worst of all they made the Captain the scape goat and blamed it all on him. The “good ole boys” club was alive and well at the top, especially with all the Annapolis grads that watched out for each other.
McVay was exonerated in 2000 as being responsible for the loss…after his death of course. Surprisingly Nimitz moved to clear him of charges but King over-ruled Nimitz and ordered him to endure court martial.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_B._McVay_III
Navy brass sent Indianapolis out alone with no destroyers to protect from subs?
The ship was carrying the bombs that were used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
It was a secret mission ...
They couldent even break radio silence to say the ship was sinking ...
One could see him around town on occasions, driving his pick-up truck, with both a license plate and bumper stickers that identified him as being a survivor of the Indianapolis. One day I saw him at the Safeway and engaged him in conversation, thanking him for his service. We spoke for twenty minutes. He is a gentleman and a hero, that is for certain. I wish him well!
This story will make you cry a little every time it is told, the war was almost over.
True. And Mr. Bray was only 17 at the time of his enlistment.
But Quint was a terrible person. Broken psychologically, so I won’t judge his soul, but smashing the phone on the boat was an act of homicide. Randy Quaid didn’t exist yet, so they had to invent him.
David Webster (see Band of Brothers) was a shark enthusiast. In 1961, he went out in a sailboat and was never seen again.
I know the story of the USS Indianapolis.
But I would not call this guy a hero.
No offense meant. I just can’t find a way to justify that overused term in this case.
A family friend I grew up knowing was a merchant marine. His ship got kamazied and went down. He didn’t spend a lot of time in the water but the guy who pulled him out was one of his high school buddies. He’s 96 now.
A few years ago I was privileged to hear one of the other survivors (obviously now deceased since Bray is the last one still alive) tell the story of the sinking and how he survived. It was just a lucky chance that something caught the eye of someone on a plane flying overhead that led to the rescue of those who had not drowned by then.
Would they have had cell service that far out to sea?
Regards,
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