[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1636-E1638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

U.S.S. INDIANAPOLIS MEMORIAL

______

HON. ANDREW JACOBS, JR.

of indiana

in the house of representatives

Friday, August 4, 1995
Mr. JACOBS. Mr. Speaker, all Americans will be grateful to the
Congress and to the President for adopting last year the following
resolution commanding the noble service to our country rendered by the
U.S.S. Indianapolis and its crew. The death of the Indianapolis and
very many of its hands represents one of the more poignant tragedies of
World War II inasmuch as it all happened shortly before the end of
hostilities with Japan.
At long last a suitable monument has been erected in the city of
Indianapolis. The monument was dedicated on the second day of August of
this year. In addition to the resolution itself which follows, I insert
a story from the Indianapolis News and a story from the Indianapolis
Star about this touching occasion.
Special tribute should be paid to Patrick J. Finneran, Capt. James
Holds, USN retired, Dr. Giles G. McCoy and Robert H. McKinney, who
together with other pillars in the Indianapolis community, worked
tirelessly and lovingly to bring all of this well deserved remembrance
about.
The Congress of The United States of America, the 103d Congress
Assembled, Law No. 103-337

Sec. 1052 U.S.S. Indianapolis (CA-35) For gallantry,
sacrifice and a decisive mission to end world War II.
1. The U.S.S. Indianapolis served the people of the United
States with valor and distinction throughout World War II in
action against enemy forces in the Pacific Theater of
Operations from 7 December 1941 to 29 July 1945.
2. The fast and powerful heavy cruiser with its courageous
and capable crew, compiled an impressive combat record during
her victorious forays across the battle-torn reaches of the
Pacific, receiving in the process ten hard-earned Battle
Stars from the Aleutians to Okinawa.
3. This mighty ship repeatedly proved herself a swift hard-
hitting weapon of our Pacific Fleet, rendering invaluable
service in anti-shipping, shore bombardments, anti-air and
invasion support roles, and serving with honor and great
distinction as Fifth Fleet Flagship under Admiral Raymond
Spruance, USN, and Third Fleet Flagship under Admiral William
F. Halsey, USN.
4. This gallant ship, owing to her superior speed and
record of accomplishment, transported the world's first
operational atomic bomb to the Island of Tinian,
accomplishing her mission at a record average speed of 29
knots.
5. Following the accomplishment of her mission, the
Indianapolis departed Tinian for

[[Page E 1637]]
Guam and, thereafter, embarked from Guam for the Leyte Gulf where she
was to join with the fleet assembling for the invasion of
Japan.
6. At 0014 hours on 30 July 1945, the U.S.S. Indianapolis
was sunk by enemy torpedo action.
7. Of the approximately 900 members of her crew of 1,198
officers and men who survived the initial torpedo attack,
only 319 were eventually rescued because, as a result of the
ship's communication ability having been destroyed in the
attack, the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis was not
discovered for five fateful days, during which the survivors
suffered incessant shark attacks, starvation, desperate
thirst, and exposure.
8. From her participation in the earliest offensive actions
in the Pacific in World War II to becoming the last capital
ship lost in that conflict, the U.S.S. Indianapolis and her
crew left an indelible imprint on our nation's struggle to
eventual victory.
9. This selfless and outstanding performance of duty
reflects great credit upon the ship and her crew, thus
upholding the very highest traditions of the United States
Navy.

recommendation and commendation

Congress, acting on behalf of the grateful people of the
United States, hereby--Recognizes the invaluable
contributions of the U.S.S. Indianapolis to the ending of
World War II; and, On the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of
her tragic sinking, and the dedication of her National
Memorial in Indianapolis on August 2nd, 1995, commends this
gallant ship and her crew for selfless and heroic service to
the United States of America.
____

Crewmen Applaud U.S.S. ``Indianapolis'' Memorial--107 Survivors Attend
Ceremony Downtown

(By Welton W. Harris II)

As the sun beat down on today's dedication of the USS
Indianapolis national memorial, 3,500 onlookers stood and
applauded 107 crewmen who survived the sinking 50 years ago.
For those who didn't make it, like Adrian Marks of
Frankfort, Dr. Giles G. McCoy, chairman of the survivors'
group, said it all: ``He was there when we needed him, and
that was the important thing.''
The ceremonies today at the headwaters of the Downtown
Canal concluded a 30-year effort to raise a memorial to the
ship and its crew, especially the 880 who didn't survive.
The Indianapolis was en route from Guam to Leyte on July
30, 1945, when it was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese
submarine.
Because of wartime conditions, and partly through
negligence, the loss of the heavy cruiser went undetected for
four days.
Survivors were left in the Pacific Ocean, where many
drowned or became victims of shark attacks.
While flying patrol on Aug. 2, Lt. Wilbur C. Gwinn detected
an oil slick. When he flew lower, he saw the survivors. He
radioed for assistance, which came in the form of Lt. Marks
and the crew of his PBY flying boat.
Gwinn, who died two years ago, was represented at today's
ceremonies by his widow, Norma.
Marks, whose health prevented him from attending, picked up
56 survivors and broke radio silence with his distress
signal. Five rescue ships responded.
Of the crew, only 317 survived.
Today, there are 127 living, and 107 came to see the
granite and limestone memorial.
Louis P. Bitoni of Warren, Mich., was a seaman first class
gunners mate 50 years ago.
Today, he brought 22 members of his family to the
ceremonies, including his wife, brothers and their wives, his
children and grandchildren.
After the unveiling he said: ``It's great. It's everything
I hoped it would be.''
Dr. Lewis Haynes of Naples, Fla., the ship's doctor, and
Harold Schechterle of Shelburn Falls, Mass., recounted their
experience 50 years ago.
Haynes had removed the appendix of the ship's radar
operator eight days before the sinking.
``It would be harder today,'' the doctor told his former
patient, pointing at Schechterle's midsection, which Haynes
said had grown over the years.
McCoy, part of the U.S. Marine detachment on the
Indianapolis, brought his wife, three children and four
grandchildren.
He has been chairman of the survivors association since it
formed in 1960 and held it first gathering in Indianapolis.
Accepting the memorial today on behalf of the association,
McCoy cut short his remarks.
``This heat reminds me of what it was like out there in
that sea 50 years ago,'' he said.
Despite the heat and humidity, crowds lined both sides of
the canal and the memorial plaza for the 50-minute ceremony,
led by Marine Sgt. Maj. Mac Magana of Indianapolis.
When the canvas fell away from the memorial the crowd again
stood and applauded.
Within minutes, two old warbirds, replicas of the aircraft
that found the survivors--a PBY and a PV2 Harpoon--lumbered
over the site as the participants again applauded.
Tuesday night, more than 2,000 people--including ``lost-at-
sea family members''--attended a ``Banquet of Thanksgiving''
at the Hyatt Regency.
McCoy's son, Craig, 43, of Abiline, Texas, said now that
the survivors' numbers are dwindling, their children have
formed the group ``Second Watch'' to carry on the tradition.
____

Memorial to the U.S.S. ``Indianapolis'' Helps the Survivors Put the
Tragedy Behind Them

(By R. Joseph Gelarden)

As the chilling echoes of taps cut through a blistering
summer sun, Eleanor Sforzo stood quietly. Her son, Joe
Musarra Jr., reached out his burly arm and pulled her to his
side.
Both had tears in their eyes--the smallish, white-haired
woman remembering a young sailor who never came home, and her
son, a Cleveland police sergeant, whispering a prayer for the
dad he never knew.
The two were among the thousands gathered Wednesday at the
Downtown Canal to dedicate a national memorial to the USS
Indianapolis, the last U.S. ship lost in World War II.
Hundreds of old sailors, their once-dark military haircuts
replaced with gray, joined with the wives and families of
their shipmates in Downtown Indianapolis for a final salute
to the fallen ship and the hundreds of crewmen who perished
in the Pacific after the ship was torpedoed by a Japanese
submarine.
``It's a very special day,'' Sforzo said.
It was a different world when Eleanor married Joe Musarra.
The world was at war, and the rules seemed simple: Men went
into the service, women stayed home.
Joe Musarra was assigned to the USS Indianapolis, one of
the Navy's fastest and most powerful floating weapons. She
was a veteran of 10 battles and served as a flagship for
fleet admirals. She carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt
on so many trips that he called her his ``ship of state.''

helped end the war

Joe and Eleanor had only a few days together before he was
ordered back to San Francisco to rejoin the Indianapolis for
another mission. The ship had been ordered to speed to a tiny
Pacific island to deliver a top-secret cargo, critical parts
for the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in
an act that ended the war.
``The ship was sunk in July. I was born in January,'' the
son explained.
Eleanor remarried and had nine kids. She loved her new
husband; but deep in her heart, she remembered her Joe.
``I hurt for a long time. But now the time for hurt is
past. This (monument) is so nice. It is like a final memorial
service,'' she said.
``Tell the people (the survivors) that they (the sailors
that perished) are now with God and He takes special care of
His own,'' she said.
For Charles B. McVay IV, the service was a fine tribute.
But for his family, the story didn't end Wednesday. It won't
be closed until the Navy wipes the court-martial off his
father's record.
The sinking of the USS Indianapolis was the Navy's greatest
sea disaster. About 880 of the nearly 1,200 crewmen were able
to escape the sinking ship, which went down in only 12
minutes. Of the 880, only 317 were rescued days later.
For Capt. McVay, survival meant humiliation. The Navy
brass, looking for a scapegoat, court-martialed him for
failing to take a zig-zag course--one in which the ship might
have avoided an attack.
Years later, his career ruined and still haunted by the
military action, McVay committed suicide.
McVay's son, now 70, and many of the survivors who gathered
for the memorial believe it's only right that the Navy admit
it was wrong and take steps to erase that black mark from
history. But until now, their requests have been rejected by
presidents, Navy secretaries and admirals.
``Last night, at the survivor's dinner, Admiral Quast (Vice
Admiral Philip M. Quast, the official Navy representative at
the ceremony) and the Navy legal man (Joseph G. Lynch,
assistant general counsel for the Navy Department), admitted
to me that the
court-martial was wrong. . . . It should never have
happened,'' said McVay.
``It is the first time the Navy has ever admitted the
truth. Maybe there is now a chance to clear his name.''

ship's bell rings again

Mike G. Obledo, 70, Houston, was one of McVay's sailors on
the Indianapolis. But he didn't know the skipper. He was just
another seaman on a great ship.
Wednesday, he and the other sailors marched into the
ceremony as boatswain's pipes sang out and the old ship's
bell tolled. The bell was removed from the ship when she went
into wartime service. It is now kept at the Hessler Naval
Armory in Indianapolis.
Obledo and his shipmate, Gus Kay, now a deputy sheriff in
Illinois, were self-styled ``young punks'' when they were
dumped into the milk-warm waters of the Pacific after the
incident.
``I was on a net raft. The sharks took 63 of our guys, but
I don't know how I survived,'' said Kay.
But Obledo thinks he knows the secret.
``It was prayer. That was about the size of it. You prayed.
If you didn't know how to pray, you learned real quick.''
On Aug. 2, 1945, the crewmen of the Indianapolis were
rescued.
Fifty years later, under a similarly searing sun, they
finally were able to pay tribute to the ship, their lost
shipmates and their families, and to each other.
``It's over,'' said retired Indianapolis firefighter Jim
O'Donnell, the only local survivor.

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``It's finally over.''

____________________