USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage - A tragic tale of heroism

USS Indiniapolis: Men of Courage tells the ill fated story of the heavy cruises of the same name. With World War 2 nearing it's end, USS Indiniapolis was secretly given a mission by the Admirals reporting directly to the President of the USA to deliver top secret package to Tinian, Guam alone. Unescorted by any US warship which could spot enemy submarines, USS Indiniapolis sailed to Tinian, Guam at full speed to deliver uranium and other parts of Little Boy, the atomic first dropped at Nagasaki, Japan which ultimately ended the war at the Pacific.

USS Indianapolis skipper, Capt. McVay, played by Nicolas Cage, when given the order has had a hunch that what they will deliver will change the course of the war at Pacific and pushed through. With 1,172 crew on board, the cruiser upon delivering the package at Tinian was still denied escorts before sailing to Leyte, Philippines to disembark its fresh Marines who will undergo training therein. 6 days prior to sailing towards its mission, USS Underhill, a light cruiser was also sunk in the same seas by an Imperial Japanses Navy (IJN) torpedo. This crucial information was also withheld by the higher Navy officers to McVay. To them, USS Indianapolis' end goal was to deliver safely the package. They believe that giving them escort would only attract enemy submarines to target them thus jeopardizing the whole mission.

While sailing en route to Leyte on the night of June 30, 1945, IJN sub spotted the heavy cruiser and fired 6 torpedoes with two of it hitting the cruiser underneath causing massive damage and death among the crew. McVay this time had followed protocols such as assess the damage, send out SSS or call for help, declare abandon ship, and assist the crew to leave premises before USS Indianapolis finally sinks. Within 12 minutes after being torpedoed, the cruiser met its fate at the bottom of the sea taking with it 300 men.

In the next scenes, the survivors including McVay endured hunger, thirst, hypothermia, salt water poisoning, infection of sustained injuries, and the worst of all, being eaten by sharks. McVay displayed courage and strength helping his crewmen and assuring them that help will soon arrive. He administered morphine to those severely injured, and shared with everyone their remaining rations of Spam. Of the 800 strong and alive men that jumped out the sea, only 301 survived after being rescued on their fifth day at sea. The saddest part is that, had the rescue arrived that same night after the cruiser was sunk, it is a great possibility that all of these 800 men could have survived. According to their US Naval history, such loss of life in USS Indianapolis had been the worse since after Pearl Harbor bombing in December 8, 1941.

What sucks even more is that despite the 3 distress calls received in Leyte no help arrived, The commanding officer dismissed even the captain's distress call believing the Japanese were just trying to lure them. Others simply explained there had been a miscommunication since USS Indianapolis journey was top secret. It had been by miracle that a plane doing a routine patrolling spotted hundreds of these men afloat in the open sea that the rescue finally arrived. What if no plane did a routine patrolling? All these brave souls could have perished with no news about the USS Indianapolis' tragic fate ever making it out in public.

With this tragedy finally surfacing on the newspapers, the Navy simply blamed the sinking of USS Indianiapolis as the fault of it's captain, McVay for failing to zigzag the cruiser which could have avoided the torpedo, and for failing to call abandon ship on time. The poor skipper who already endured so much in the open sea had been crucified and became their scapegoat just to cover up their inadequacies and poor decisions which had cost the life of hundreds of young men aboard the cruiser. McVay was court martialed, ridiculed, and harassed by the relatives of those who died aboard his commanding ship who relentlessly sent him hate letters and phone calls. Although his men strongly testified to his innocence, dedication, and courage to their survival, he was found guilty of hazarding the ship for failing to zigzag the night it sunk.

Bearing the guilt of his men's death for years, losing his wife Louise's to cancer, and still being harassed by both media and the casualties' relatives, McVay took his own life in early 1960's using his Navy issued pistol at his home in Connecticut. I found it sickening to the core that the real hero was stripped of his dignity by those imbeciles. One of his men even said, they should be building a monument for his heroism. To me, he is a hero not for faithfully carrying out his mission to deliver the atomic bomb's parts, but for standing up and selflessly helping his men when they were all just trying to survive out in the unforgiving and dangerous Philippine seas.

If it may be of any consolation, McVay was exonerated and cleared of any Naval record in 2000 in a bill passed by the US Senate and signed by then President Bill Clinton through the efforts of a young boy named Harvey Scott who researched and lobbied for McVay's innocence. The US government could have done that decades earlier, but refused to do so for they did not want to be blamed for their wrong decisions. Had he been exonerated earlier, then the lonely hero could probably not have committed suicide.

I also wish that this film be patronized by our new generation. Many have forgotten about the sacrifices made by these brave men for us to enjoy our present rights and liberty. I was deeply saddened to know that after a short lived showing in cinemas, it was altogether pulled out. No amount of money could repay the debts we owe to their bravery, and I believe the least the young millenials could do is acknowledge and honor their bravery by watching these modern World War 2 classic drama. Kudos to the producers for making poignant and inspiring films like this. Keep doing these kind of films. I don't think we will ever run out of stories of bravery and courage by our real life heroes from the WW1 and WW2.