History
We leave for wherever history takes us. Preceded. Followed.
–Etel Adnan, Night
I watched a program on the discovery of the wreck of the USS Indianapolis last night. A team of scientists funded by Paul Allen found the Indianapolis on the bottom of the Philippine Sea lying at a dept of 18,000 feet. The discovery took place on August 19, 2017.
At night on July 30 1945 the ship was torpedoed by Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58. Of the 1,196 crewmen, 317 survived. She sank in about 12 minutes. The ship had completed a high speed run to Tinian island to deliver parts for Little Boy, the first atomic bomb to be used in combat.
Several WWII veterans, survivors of the Indianapolis sinking were interviewed, as they watched video of the sunken ship. The remains were well preserved. The triple mount 9 inch guns could easily be identified, even the smaller 40 mm Bfors AA guns in the quad mounts could be seen. The men reminisced on their duty station aboard the ship and where they were when the torpedoes hit. They never expected to see the ship again.
My heart broke to recognize the community of men aboard that ship, tasked with delivering components of the most lethal weapon ever devised. Each man had a role, a duty to perform. Even the men in the Japanese submarine, men whose homeland by that time, already was substantially destroyed were playing a role. I wonder if any of them came from Higashi Matsubara in the Kanto area of Japan? I lived there for two years when I was twenty years old. I remember the kids playing. Certainly many young sailors on the Indianapolis came from small towns, and farms.
The captain of the Indianapolis, Charles Butler McVay III, was charged with failing at his duty in the sinking. He was court-martialed. The captain committed suicide in 1968.
There are no innocent bystanders.
Soon I will drive to Deerfield, and begin another day of work.
