thedrifter
08-17-06, 07:00 AM
‘Indy’ survivor recounts horrors of attack
Paul Hanak
Tribune-Courier Staff Writer
An uneasy hush fell over the audience as Ed Harrell described how he watched his fellow Marines and sailors burn alive, and listened to their screams as they were attacked by sharks more than 60 years ago.
It was only through God’s grace, Harrell told an audience at First Baptist Church on Aug. 14, that he survived to tell about the four days he spent floating in the Pacific Ocean’s salt water.
Marine Edgar Harrell was aboard the USS Indianapolis on July 30, 1945, when it was struck by two Japanese torpedoes. Twelve minutes later, the ship sank, throwing the surviving 900 men out of a crew of 1,196 manning the vessel into the sea.
By the end of the fourth day when they were finally spotted, only half still survived.
Because the Indianapolis had no escort and its radio communications had been knocked out by the attack, the Navy was unaware of the attack. Thus, no search-and-rescue team was dispatched.
Naval officials had ordered the Indianapolis to travel from Guam to the Leyte Gulf without an escort. Harrell and the crew knew submarines were in those waters, yet they followed orders.
More than 60 years later, Harrell still questions that decision.
“Without an escort?” he asked incredulously during his speech at the church. “They allowed us to go that 1,100 miles toward the Philippines unescorted.”
The night before the attack, Harrell said he went to sleep topside under a gun turret. At 12:45, he heard a massive explosion, followed by another soon after. They’d been hit, and the ship was sinking — and sinking fast.
Harrell said the torpedoes cut off about 45 feet of the ship. “When I say cut off,” he added, “that means it just wasn’t there anymore.”
He watched the pandemonium on that ship while Marines and sailors injured during the explosions wandered helplessly about the deck.
“You could see the flesh hanging from faces and from their arms,” he said. “They were pleading for help, but there was nothing I could do.
“There are times when you pray and there are times when you pray,” Harrell said as he described holding onto the ship as it sank. “And there is a difference. There is a difference.”
After the ship had gone under, another battle began — the battle to survive.
The 900 men who entered the water faced against shark attacks, hyperthermia, severe dehydration and salt-water hallucinations. Many did not even survive the night.
Harrell said he and a buddy huddled together to keep their body temperatures up. The water was 85 degrees. Hyperthermia sets in at 84, he added.
The fins of sharks could be seen circling the area around them, attacking the men who weren’t close to a group.
On the second day floating in the water, Harrell said his friend could no longer close his eyes. They were crusted open from the salt water. He said he was going to commit suicide — swim as deep as he could until he ran out of breath. There was no hope, he said. Nobody knew they were out there.
Harrell talked him out of it.
Harrell said the men grew so thirsty, their tongues began to swell in their mouths. But God, he added, provided a bit of relief, sending a rain cloud over them for only a small drink of water that didn’t cause hallucinations.
On the third day, Harrell and his friend saw a raft in the distance and attached to the makeshift raft were five sailors. While the raft only carried dry life jackets, it was more than that had. After brief conversation, the two Marines and five sailors decided to swim to the Philippines.
“If we get close enough to the Philippines, surely someone would spot us,” Harrell said.
That was their plan — meek but hopeful.
On their travels that day, Harrell noticed something in the distance. Some debris was floating, something that may be useful, he said.
Well, it was useful. They tasted horrible, but bittersweet.
There were potatoes floating amongst this debris. Upon closer investigation, though, they were rotten.
It didn’t matter. It was food. God had given them enough to survive for another day, Harrell said.
The fourth day, he added, was the day for miracles.
There were always planes flying over the waters, Harrell said, but none of them were looking for survivors. Not even the plane that found them was looking for them.
Most of the planes were flying at around 30,000 feet. But late in the afternoon another plane passed over them. The plane had a glitch in its radio antenna and was flying at about 8,000 feet.
The pilot had to open the hatch in the back of the plane to work on the radio antenna, giving him a good view of the waters below. As he was working on the antenna, he was looking down at the open ocean.
He saw something. It could have been nothing, but he turned the plane around for a closer look.
It was the crew of the Indianapolis. Since the sun was setting, it cast a reflection off the oil from the ship that still coated their faces.
The pilot tilted his wings and broke radio silence to call for help.
“Ducks on the pond!” Harrell yelled, code for men in the water.
They were saved.
As he finished his speech, the audience at First Baptist gave Harrell a standing ovation.
Harrell’s experiences are recounted in the book “Out of the Depths,” written by David Harrell. For more information, visit www.indysurvivor.com.
Ellie
Paul Hanak
Tribune-Courier Staff Writer
An uneasy hush fell over the audience as Ed Harrell described how he watched his fellow Marines and sailors burn alive, and listened to their screams as they were attacked by sharks more than 60 years ago.
It was only through God’s grace, Harrell told an audience at First Baptist Church on Aug. 14, that he survived to tell about the four days he spent floating in the Pacific Ocean’s salt water.
Marine Edgar Harrell was aboard the USS Indianapolis on July 30, 1945, when it was struck by two Japanese torpedoes. Twelve minutes later, the ship sank, throwing the surviving 900 men out of a crew of 1,196 manning the vessel into the sea.
By the end of the fourth day when they were finally spotted, only half still survived.
Because the Indianapolis had no escort and its radio communications had been knocked out by the attack, the Navy was unaware of the attack. Thus, no search-and-rescue team was dispatched.
Naval officials had ordered the Indianapolis to travel from Guam to the Leyte Gulf without an escort. Harrell and the crew knew submarines were in those waters, yet they followed orders.
More than 60 years later, Harrell still questions that decision.
“Without an escort?” he asked incredulously during his speech at the church. “They allowed us to go that 1,100 miles toward the Philippines unescorted.”
The night before the attack, Harrell said he went to sleep topside under a gun turret. At 12:45, he heard a massive explosion, followed by another soon after. They’d been hit, and the ship was sinking — and sinking fast.
Harrell said the torpedoes cut off about 45 feet of the ship. “When I say cut off,” he added, “that means it just wasn’t there anymore.”
He watched the pandemonium on that ship while Marines and sailors injured during the explosions wandered helplessly about the deck.
“You could see the flesh hanging from faces and from their arms,” he said. “They were pleading for help, but there was nothing I could do.
“There are times when you pray and there are times when you pray,” Harrell said as he described holding onto the ship as it sank. “And there is a difference. There is a difference.”
After the ship had gone under, another battle began — the battle to survive.
The 900 men who entered the water faced against shark attacks, hyperthermia, severe dehydration and salt-water hallucinations. Many did not even survive the night.
Harrell said he and a buddy huddled together to keep their body temperatures up. The water was 85 degrees. Hyperthermia sets in at 84, he added.
The fins of sharks could be seen circling the area around them, attacking the men who weren’t close to a group.
On the second day floating in the water, Harrell said his friend could no longer close his eyes. They were crusted open from the salt water. He said he was going to commit suicide — swim as deep as he could until he ran out of breath. There was no hope, he said. Nobody knew they were out there.
Harrell talked him out of it.
Harrell said the men grew so thirsty, their tongues began to swell in their mouths. But God, he added, provided a bit of relief, sending a rain cloud over them for only a small drink of water that didn’t cause hallucinations.
On the third day, Harrell and his friend saw a raft in the distance and attached to the makeshift raft were five sailors. While the raft only carried dry life jackets, it was more than that had. After brief conversation, the two Marines and five sailors decided to swim to the Philippines.
“If we get close enough to the Philippines, surely someone would spot us,” Harrell said.
That was their plan — meek but hopeful.
On their travels that day, Harrell noticed something in the distance. Some debris was floating, something that may be useful, he said.
Well, it was useful. They tasted horrible, but bittersweet.
There were potatoes floating amongst this debris. Upon closer investigation, though, they were rotten.
It didn’t matter. It was food. God had given them enough to survive for another day, Harrell said.
The fourth day, he added, was the day for miracles.
There were always planes flying over the waters, Harrell said, but none of them were looking for survivors. Not even the plane that found them was looking for them.
Most of the planes were flying at around 30,000 feet. But late in the afternoon another plane passed over them. The plane had a glitch in its radio antenna and was flying at about 8,000 feet.
The pilot had to open the hatch in the back of the plane to work on the radio antenna, giving him a good view of the waters below. As he was working on the antenna, he was looking down at the open ocean.
He saw something. It could have been nothing, but he turned the plane around for a closer look.
It was the crew of the Indianapolis. Since the sun was setting, it cast a reflection off the oil from the ship that still coated their faces.
The pilot tilted his wings and broke radio silence to call for help.
“Ducks on the pond!” Harrell yelled, code for men in the water.
They were saved.
As he finished his speech, the audience at First Baptist gave Harrell a standing ovation.
Harrell’s experiences are recounted in the book “Out of the Depths,” written by David Harrell. For more information, visit www.indysurvivor.com.
Ellie