Viewing page 227 of 307
This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.
[[newspaper clipping]] Ordeal From Page 1A the forward magazine, where explosives were stored. The magazine exploded when the second of three torpedoes hit, he said. "As I opened my eyes and heard the explosion I saw flames shooting out of that hatch," he said. "When I came to my senses I knew the bow of the ship was gone and we were sinking lower and lower." Today, Hershberger laughs about what he did next. Instead of running for safety, he went to his compartment and changed clothes. He also grabbed a life jacket. Hershberger said he "half jumped and half slid" down the port, or left, side of the ship. Because the torpedoes hit the ship's fuel tank, Hershberger and the other men in the water were coated with fuel oil that got in their eyes, noses and throats. "In a sense it was a blessing because it saved most of us from sun burn," he said. "Without that coating of oil we would have been burnt black." The injured were put in rafts, while Hershberger and the rest were left bobbing in the ocean, held upright by their life jackets. Most of the food supplies were waterlogged and had to be discarded. Hershberger said the only food he ate was on the first day when he had a biscuit and one drink of water. He said he became dehydrated but was never tempted to drink the saltwater after watching shipmates who did become delirious and die. "The good Lord had his hand on my shoulder the whole time," he said. Hershberger said sleep was out of the question, especially when sharks started attacking the men. "I didn't see any sharks until they opened a few cans of Spam," he said. "Then shortly after they opened that first can it seemed like within minutes we saw dorsal fins on the surface." Hershberger said that with his life jacket on his line of vision was limited to no more than 20 feet. He never saw the shark attacks, he said, but he heard them. "You didn't have to see them. When the person got hit they let out a scream like you never heard." When he and the others were finally rescued, Hershberger was dehydrated and had saltwater ulcers, sores that left scars on his back for years. He said one of his first pleasures was to take a shower. He recalls little about the first meal after being rescued. "I do remember they had ice cream," he said. "Everybody had ice cream." The ship's commander, Capt. Charles McVay III, was brought before a disciplinary board on negligence charges. He was found not guilty of failing to order his men to abandon ship in a timely manner, but was convicted of failing to "zigzag" his ship, a defensive move. Hershberger said the Navy used McVay as a scapegoat for the tragedy. He criticized the Navy for not rescuing the crew until nearly three days after the ship's scheduled arrival at Leyte. McVay committed suicide in 1968. "He was strict but he was lenient too," Hershberger said of McVay. "He didn't take any bull off anybody either. There wasn't anything any of the crew wouldn't have done for him." There are about 130 to 140 survivors of the Indianapolis tragedy still living, said Steve Craig, volunteer coordinator of the memorial dedication. Hershberger is one of four Indianapolis survivors living in Indiana. The others are Donald Beaty, of Fort Wayne, J.D. Howison of Jeffersonville, and James O'Donnell, of Indianapolis. Hershberger said he didn't talk about the episode until survivors and other people interested in the sinking began raising money for the memorial. Craig said that's typical of many survivors; some are only now beginning to tell their stories. For many, Craig said, the monument is the final chapter in a book it took 50 years to write. "Thee are a lot of kids bringing survivors or widows to this," Craig said of the dedication. "As one said, 'I'm bringing Mom to closure.' [[?]] 800 people, this is the only tombstone they're going to have for their husbands." [/newspaper clipping]] [[image: weather map, forecast and temperatures]] [[newspaper clipping]] Thursday Herald-Press August 2, 2001 INSIDE Automotive 1C Business 2C Classified 4B-8B Editorials 4A Local 2A School News 5A-7A Sports 1B-3B The Active Life 3C CONTACT US News, Ads and Circulation 356-6700 www.h-ponline.com hpnews@h-ponline.com TOMORROW [[image: graphic of sun and clouds]] High 85 Weather Details on 8A H-P Time and Temperature 356-1331 HUNTINGTON, INDIANA * 3 SECTIONS * 22 PAGES Newsstand 50c/Home Delivery: City 25c County 28c [[line]] [[image: photo of two men talking]] [[caption: Left: At a news conference on Guam in August, 1945, USS Indianapolis skipper Capt. Charles B. McVay III talks to war correspondents about the loss of the ship.]] [[photo credit:AP/Naval Historical Center]] USS Indianapolis survivor has a story to tell World War II disaster, captain's recent vindication will be part of remarks in Huntington Aug. 14 By DAVE SCHULTZ Staff Writer Paul. J. Murphy doesn't want to talk about sharks. "Sharks don't like Irishmen," he says. Nevertheless, Murphy survived an attack by a Japanese submarine and four harrowing days in the South Pacific - and the attendant sharks - when the USS Indianapolis was sunk July 30, 1945. Murphy is the president of the USS Indianapolis Survivors Association. He will be in Huntington at noon Tuesday, Aug. 14, when he stops in on his way to the crew's reunion in Indianapolis. Murphy, now retired in Broomfield, Colo., will be here at the invitation of Huntington resident Iris Clark, who became interested in the story after watching a television documentary on the ship. She made contact with Murphy at one of the reunions. Clark's son lives in Boulder, Colo., not for from Broomfield, and Clark visited Murphy at his home. "I asked him - when he's coming to the reunion some time, maybe he can come up to Huntington," Clark said. "I told him I would meet him in Indianapolis and dive him up, but he said he would just stop by on his way." The reunion officially begins Thursday (Turn to Page 2A, Col.3) [[box]] Lunch, speech Paul J. Murphy will speak at a noon luncheon at the Huntington College Habecker dining Commons on Tuesday, Aug. 14. Luncheon tickets are $9, and reservations should be made with Iris Clark before Aug. 9 at 256-6877. For those wishing to forego lunch but hear Murphy speak, the speech should begin about 12:45 p.m. and seating should be available. [/box]] Deal breaks patients' rights bill impasse [[body of article cut off]] [/newspaper clipping]]
