"Never Give Up"

"Never Give Up". Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana: The Harrison Post, 1995-07-27 https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/QVTWBWEZNJCMN8A http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ The libraries provide public access to a wide range of material, including online exhibits, digitized collections, archival finding aids, our catalog, online articles, and a growing range of materials in many media. When possible, we provide rights information in catalog records, finding aids, and other metadata that accompanies collections or items. However, it is always the user's obligation to evaluate copyright and rights issues in light of their own use. 728 State Street | Madison, Wisconsin 53706 | library.wisc.edu PERSONALITY THE Harrison Post 3 JULY 27, 1995 -. - eee le 4 orem td =n ln © ssi a he . |. : i a —_ os by <tc ~™ Oe ug J AYR Bait pila Ret bes Se OY. ME Roe i ar ee ore 4 $ ‘ go ] ® Ret. a ie Std Net BLS LO. © SA OG +) e if oe 8 a am ey Fo es Oa! PN eyes i Cae we PET ot oY OT CUCU PIT. ASE KF OE pee OO ee Te ‘mon F eg Cee i) 4 ee eb “Wea, ad ee et A PE ath ie. SP. miele ek . ee AS ol } | as — eh ee 4 ere Vy Peete . P y » id Py Fiat ey a : * pete Ne eet te os T 8 ot PN ee ~ . Oe of a _ ee Oa Sk ex, i ic . Pee eo = 6 a" 4 < ras fans rv. a | 13 a. ae na Bg ee Pie > a ae UP VT Rt a... f° T° hk kt a Se ~~ i, 4 bikie. | — <4. eA ofegk i “ OS & ate 6CLe™ ee Mee oe eS ee ca 2 | as) "| ——— preF Be LA | i ll (eee, he ae | eee ee cee — “ : ok A, + . £t “ ‘oA.e Ag " , Hy a — fs ere ee ee, we || hoy } R a se ie eR -4 - . ~~ SS ‘ | vo ; ee , ee - a beet bee a : | : fo Sys : ~~. Si ee 7 a ee oO oe eS —— Cl = ft. A a ee a oo ee err a ee e Wh en you're ’ placed 1, d in . h hell for five days, there is . only James O'Donnell 2 is one of (Courtesy only 317. photo) sailors who survived one of the Navy's . ° worst tragedies -- the sinking of the one simple rule to live by. a USS Indianapolis. Nearly 900 i perished in the attack or during the pe eee Gilg Me eee iets See Cita ek eS ee me aS following live daysadmatinishouk: infested waters. Serer eta ee, ete nae domi below.” mne fantail was the only. from stem-to-stern on most capital ships to | Mexico desert the awesome power of the by Staff Sgt. Chris Calkins place I could get really comfortable. protect them from mines and torpedoes. A-Bomb. PAO NCOIC “J don’t remember that night being any § While possessed with greyhound-like Loaded onto the ship with secrecy and different than any other,” said the 1938 speed (in excess of 32 knots), the India- bolted to the admiral’s cabin, not even the SS. praduate of Arsenal Tech High School: napolis’ comparable lightness and sleeker cruiser’s commanding officer, Capt. It was almost midnight, July 29/30, O’Donnell, of course, was wrong. hull made it vulnerable to an enemy Charles B. McVay, III, who took com- 1945. attack. mand of the ship in November, 1944, was The 610-foot cruiser churned effort- Th hi Fatally vulnerable as it turned out. aware of of his ship’s cargo. lessly through the waters of the Southern e ship “T’ve never talked to anyone, then or Pacific, 600 miles west of Guam, 550 2 s now, who even had a clue as to what we miles east of her ultimate destination, the The Indianapolis’ keel was laid March The mission were carrying. I was just kinda surprised Gulf of Leyte in the Philippines. 31, 1930 by the New York Shipbuilding we were leaving California so soon,” For Watertender Third Class James E. Corp., Camden, N.J. It was launched Nov. Not everyone, least of all O'Donnell O'Donnell remembered. O’Donnell, one of five Indianapolis 7, 1931, sponsored by Lucy Taggart. Lucy —_ and the majority of the crew was aware of Stopping only six hours in Hawaii for natives aboard the Navy’s quickest ship, was the daughter of then-Indiana Senator the ship’s top-secret mission on that last, fuel, the Indianapolis traveled the more that summer evening seemed little differ- Thomas Taggart, who served as Indianapo- fateful journey. than 5,200 nautical miles to Tinian in less ent than the ones he’d served the past 14 lis mayor from 1885 - 1901. The ship was The winner of 10 Battle Stars earned in _ than 10 days and relieved itself of the months on the vessel that proudly bore his | commissioned by the Navy Nov. 15, action off New Guinea, Iwo Jima, Nippon, | bomb’s key elements, Uranium-235 and hometown’s name. 1932 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. and the Gilbert and Marshall Island plutonium. Timing, O’Donnell said recently, is From its very beginning, the ship was campaigns, among others, the Indianapolis It was then given orders to sail south everything. labeled the “Pride of the Navy,” and had been the victim of a kamikaze attack toward the island of Guam, headquarters of “T had about four hours before my shift quickly became President Franklin D. off Okinawa, March 31, 1945. the Pacific Fleet, commanded by Adm. was to start. I was sleeping on the top Roosevelt’s personal “Ship of State.” Nine crewmembers were killed almost Chester A. Nimitz. deck; many of us were always trying to In 1934, FDR became the first serving instantly; 26 From there, the ship was find someplace to rack up there. Even at president to make an official visit to South more were ee ordered to sail to Leyte nighttime, the ship was like a furnace America; he did so on the /ndianapolis. injured. Gulf, where it was to join : In the years prior to World War II, the “T was down ‘All I remember is that the battleship USS Idaho for f See ship had such high visibility that many of in the ship’s : ; several days of gunnery A | the world’s leaders and royalty routinely boiler room, on the ship skipped three practice in preparation for toured its decks as VIP guests of the U.S. the bottom floor, sgh a ries the planned attack of the “To be honest about it, I don’t much when the times. Kinda like a Japanese mainland. remember who visited our ship or when kamikaze hitus. bump, bump, bump.’ A single coded message rs ry they did. I only remember the guys and I All I remember -- Waterman 3rd Class was sent from Guam to the © ee joking we were worried the ship might is that the ship James E. O'Donnell USS Idaho, the ship that ’ sink from all the brass we used to cart skipped three had temporarily replaced - q around on it,” O’Donnell said with an times. Kinda CB ease ea en eS ah ae i the Indianapolis as the -. .. Ks ] enlisted man’s smile. like a bump, (2g Se eS Ee flagship of the Sth Fleet. J a ox 14 But the ship, as fast and technologically | bump, bump,” That message was garbled, repeat ‘\” — advanced as it was, possessed an Achilles O’Donnell said as gently tapped the table but the Jdaho never asked for a _ |. : hull. : in front of him. message _ _ The Indianapolis was known as a “treaty,” After limping back to Mare Island, The Idaho didn’t know the Indianapolis _ i / or “heavy cruiser,” meaning it was builtin Vallejo, Calif., for repairs, the Indianapo- was coming. Records clearly show |... strict observance of the guidelines laiddown _/is was chosen, partly because of its speed, however th: Lene a entare Pr _ _ during the 1929 Washington Conference but mostly because of the ship’s availabil- eee re y eee _ Treaty following the end of World War I. ity, to transport the key elements of the Guam received the message, down to the |... | Under that treaty, cruisers, so asnot to world’s first atomic bombs, destined tobe anchorage dock the Indianapolis was to | be categorized warships, were limited to dropped over the Japanese cities of occupy. It would prove to be a disastrous ai _ |] 10,000 tons of displacement. To save Nagasaki and Hiroshima. lack of communication. s\S50—lté‘ displacement weight, the Indianapolis was It set sail for the Western Pacific island \ _ UA designed and built without the normal of Tinian July 16, 1945, the same day a Be Ee pT ee ee = Sa heavy, extra-thick armor plating covering government research job known as the ‘ \ Oe most ships’ sides and bottom. Manhattan Project proved to a handful of Continued nnd neue 3 (courtesy photo) This armor plating was run-of-the-mill scientists and dignitaries on the New O'Donnell in 1944. 4 Tue Harrison Post PERSON ALITY JOLY. 27; 1995 Ce Continued from page 3 The Indianapolis was a magnificent beauty. The final voyage — eo sien But it e was a beauty flawed by a fatal Achilles e hull. almost three months as the Indianapolis —_—_—_—_—_—.:.:.:.?.?.k ee — nn eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee_=S=~eee_eeeee sailed westward. The last great battle of = ‘ ee as ay the Pacific theater, the liberation of ' os _ * "ae Okinawa was almost 90 days old.

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