Posted on 11/03/2005 3:33:34 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
PRAHA - Two survivors from the ship that transported components for the first atomic bomb to the Pacific and was the last U.S. ship to be sunk during World War II will be the guest speakers at Sunday's 43rd annual All Veterans Day Memorial Service at the St. Mary's Catholic Church cemetery.
The two survivors are Buck Gibson of Waco and Loel Dene Cox of Comanche.
Ernest Chaloupka, a Praha resident and one of the organizers of the service, recalls having met some of the survivors from the ship after they were transported to the fleet hospital on Samar Island in the Philippines where he was stationed.
"I don't know if I ever saw either of the speakers," he said. "But I do remember when they were bringing them into the hospital and I didn't think any of them were going to make it."
According to the Naval Historical Center Web site, the ship's final tour started after a kamikaze plane damaged it during the allied attack on Ryukyus Island in March 1945. After being repaired, the ship made a high-speed, solo run from California to Tinian Island to deliver the components for the first atomic bomb. After making that delivery, the ship was ordered to the Philippines where it was scheduled to be part of a task force for the invasion of the Japanese Home Islands.
But before the ship could arrive at its destination, it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sank within 12 minutes, taking about 300 of her nearly 1,200-man crew with her shortly after midnight on July 30.
The disaster was not discovered until a passing aircraft on a mission to hunt subs saw the ship's surviving crew in the water on Aug. 2 and began rescue efforts.
Of the 900 sailors who survived the attack, only 317 survived.
"They were in the sea with only a few of them in lifeboats or in rafts," Chaloupka said. "Most of them were just in flotation devices. A lot of them were attacked by sharks even while being rescued or had died of exposure or untreated injuries."
On Aug. 15, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
Chaloupka said he started contacting members of the Indianapolis Survivors Association after reading about them in a story that appeared in the Victoria Advocate. He said that he thought the story was an appropriate one for a service commemorating the 60-year anniversary of the end of World War II.
The All Veterans Day observance will begin at 9:30 a.m. with a Mass for all veterans at St. Mary's Catholic Church. Bishop David Fellhauer will celebrate the Mass.
People attending the memorial service will start assembling at 10:30 a.m. with a U.S. Air Force flyover scheduled for 11 a.m. marking the start of the service. At 11:45 p.m., the Commemorative Air Force will do its annual flyover and flower drop. There will also be a performance of patriotic songs by the La Grange High School Band. Those attending are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, as seating is limited.
A Praha-style fried chicken dinner with side dishes will be served starting at 11:30 a.m. and will feature both meals to eat in or plates-to-go. Meals are $6.50 for adults and $3 for children with only adult meals available to go. The St. Rose Home and School Association prepares the meals with proceeds benefiting the St. Rose Catholic School of Schulenburg.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, Catholic War Veterans, Disabled American Veterans, the Vietnam Veterans Association and Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus conduct the memorial service.
Praha is located in Fayette County on Farm-to-Market Road 1295 just south of U.S. Highway 90 between Schulenburg and Flatonia.
Barry Halvorson is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-798-3888 or hvilladv@vicad.com.
At 12:14 a.m. on July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea and sank in 12 minutes. Of 1,196 men on board, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remainder, about 900 men, were left floating in shark-infested waters with no lifeboats and most with no food or water. The ship was never missed, and by the time the survivors were spotted by accident four days later only 316 men were still alive.
Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss): You were on the Indianapolis?
Brody (Roy Scheider): What happened?
Quint: Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, chief. It was comin' back, from the island of Tinian Delady, just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in twelve minutes. Didn't see the first shark for about a half an hour. Tiger. Thirteen footer. You know, you know that when you're in the water, chief? You tell by lookin' from the dorsal to the tail. Well, we didn't know. `Cause our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. Huh huh. They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, chief. The sharks come cruisin'. So we formed ourselves into tight groups. You know it's... kinda like `ol squares in battle like a, you see on a calendar, like the battle of Waterloo. And the idea was, the shark would go for nearest man and then he'd start poundin' and hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the shark would go away. Sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that shark, he looks right into you. Right into your eyes. You know the thing about a shark, he's got...lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eye. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'. Until he bites ya and those black eyes roll over white. And then, ah then you hear that terrible high pitch screamin' and the ocean turns red and spite of all the poundin' and the hollerin' they all come in and rip you to pieces.
Y'know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men! I don't know how many sharks, maybe a thousand! I don't know how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday mornin' chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player, bosom's mate. I thought he was asleep, reached over to wake him up. Bobbed up and down in the water, just like a kinda top. Up ended. Well... he'd been bitten in half below the waist. Noon the fifth day, Mr. Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us, he swung in low and he saw us. He'd a young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper, anyway he saw us and come in low. And three hours later a big fat PBY comes down and start to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened? Waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went in the water, three hundred and sixteen men come out, the sharks ttook the rest, June the 29, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.
Thanks to Jaws: The Homepage for the use of this monologue. Used with permission and much gratitude.
I met the senior medical officer, Lewis Haynes, back in the early nineties. I did not know who he was, and we got to talking about various things, and I mentioned I had been in the Navy. He said he had been as well, and I asked him what ships he served on. He said the USS Indianapolis, and I just froze and looked at him. "Were you on it when it was sunk?" I asked him...he said he was, and just began talking about being in the water.
I couldn't believe it. He talked about being with a group of men and saying the Lord's Prayer over, and over, and over again. As he was telling me this, his face got redder and redder, and horrified, I said "You don't have to talk about it, it's okay..." and he said "I haven't talked about this part with anyone for years." Then he added "To this day, I cannot even say or hear the Lord's Prayer without becoming completely overcome with emotion."
My God. Can you imagine that? Those poor men.
http://www.ussindianapolis.org/woody.htm
Narrative from a survivor. Nasty, bad, bad scene.
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Every time I do something that impresses myself and I get smug I thing about the Indianapolis and it brings me right back down to Earth.
I couldn't shine these men's boots.
I would try though if they would allow it.
Never forget.....
We passed over the spot where the Indy went down...We tossed a wreath and contemplated the sacrifice they made to help end the war...
We played a lot of history films that talked about that mission leading up to us transiting the spot where it sank...
It really put in perspective, and got us into the right mindset for where we were going to be in just a few weeks after that ceremony...
Eaker, yer an ok joe for a short feller...Your honesty and commitment to this country is well known...You don't have to convince or reaffirm that to anyone...
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