THE USS INDIANAPOLIS TRAGEDY

On July 16, 1945
The USS Indianapolis sailed out to sea
With 1200 men, all well and alive
Serving our nation dutifully
She had a cargo
That the Captain was not privy to
But had he known
He may have spoken up to protect his loyal crew

After depositing the cargo on the island of Tinian
The ship proceeded to sail on to Guam
From there she was to cross the Philippine Sea
To the Navy base located on the island of Leyte

Captain Charles Butler McVay III had requested a destroyer escort
But the request was denied
There were no enemy subs nearby, per his superiors' report
(Years later, it was found his superiors had lied)

But on the evening of the 29th of July
Clouds hovered over the ship covering the moon and the sky
At midnight, a Japanese sub I-58 surfaced from below
Spotted the ship, torpedoed it, knocking off the ship's bow
The torpedoes slammed into her power magazine and fuel tanks
And in only 12 minutes, the unprotected ship sank
In those 12 minutes, three SOS messages were sent
But the messages were ignored
leaving the crew in torment

Some men went down with the ship
They say about one-third
The ship's SOS messages were never heard
The remaining crew were left floating
for hours, praying they would be found
But the sun and the oily salt water took its toll
And some of the men drowned
Others soon became food for a school of shark
It all seemed hopeless each day that the sun disappeared
And was replaced by the dark

Four days they'd been out there
Dying one by one
When, by a miracle, they were spotted
by a patrol plane on a routine run
By the time their rescue was completed
the count was 317 men who survived
These men were very thankful
That they were still alive

There was a question of why the men were left helpless
But it was never addressed
The Navy just swept it under the rug
Hoping the affair would be laid to rest

The Navy court-martialed the captain
putting all the blame on him
The captain's chances for a normal life
Were looking very dim
He received vicious hate mail
From the relatives of the crew members who died
He couldn't take it any longer
One day he committed suicide

But a Purple Heart correspondent, named Richard F. Newcomb, would not let things lie
He had to find the answer to the question "Why?"
Lies, cover-ups, duplicity was uncovered--Sad to say
But the Navy and our government still will not acknowledge this
even today

There is now a crusade to restore Captain McVay's name
And clear it from humiliation, dishonor and shame
We must all gather to help
clear the name of Captain McVay
Won't you take a moment
To contact your representatives today?


Copyright ©2000 Di Bael





BACK



If you didn't read the article in the August 6 issue of the Parade magazine that comes with the Sunday paper, go to this site to read about the tragedy:USS INDIANAPOLIS SURVIVORS
to write to your representatives go here: THE U S SENATE
THE U S HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES