Remarks by Admiral Sam Cox, Director,
National History and Heritage Command

...In the epic battle of Okinawa in the spring of 1945, with USS Indianapolis once again serv(ed) as Admiral Spruance's flagship right in the thick of it. Far more American Sailors were killed or injured, 9,000 casualties including almost 5,000 killed, than at Pearl Harbor. The number of US ships sunk or seriously damaged by Japanese kamikaze suicide attacks numbered over 100. It is one thing to be willing to die for one's country. It is quite another to face an enemy that intends to die for him, demonstrating an extraordinary and terrible resolve.

The USS Indianapolis shot down six planes off Okinawa. In today's environment of high body count movies and video games that might not seem like such a big deal. But one plane took the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise out of the war. Two planes took carrier USS Bunker Hill out of the war. One plane with two bombs grievously damaged the carrier USS Franklin and put her out of war. So, every one of those planes shot down by the USS Indianapolis mattered.

And when USS Indianapolis' time came on 31 March 1945, her gunners had less than 25 seconds to react to the kamikaze as it came out of the sun, and still they hit it, and the plane itself struck a glancing blow with minimum damage. But in his last instance of life, the pilot released a bomb which penetrated clean through the ship and out the bottom, exploding just underneath the ship. This by-the-way is how modern torpedoes are designed to work, exploding just underneath the ship, which maximizes the damage to the ship. Yet, through hours of heroic damage control efforts, the crew managed to save their ship.

This attack also demonstrates that there is no safe place on a warship in battle; the entire crew shares the danger. Many of the nine Sailors who died were deep in the ship, some drowned by fuel oil from a ruptured tank. The fact is that whether a sailor lives or dies in a battle at sea is about as random event as can be imagined.

The kamikaze attack set in motion a chain of destiny. Had it not been for the severe damage, the USS Indianapolis would not have been at Mare Island in July 1945. Had it not been for USS Pensacola's engineering casualty, which prevented her from carrying the atomic bomb components to Tinian as planned, the USS Indianapolis would have still been at Mare Island when the war ended, and everyone would have survived, except those lost in the kamikaze attack.

Instead, the USS Indianapolis came out of the repair yard early and still made the fastest transit to Pearl Harbor ever recorded and then to Tinian Island, playing a pivotal role in the execution of perhaps the most momentous decision ever made by a US President. And as horrible as that bomb was, it would have been dwarfed by the carnage to Japanese and Americans that would have resulted from an invasion. Millions of descendants are alive today because the USS Indianapolis executed her mission to perfection.

My point in all of this is that all 1,196 men aboard the USS Indianapolis on 30 July 1945 were heroes long before the I-58 fired her six torpedoes, and all 1,196 [1,195] deserve to be remembered that way.

Nine Indianapolis crew were killed March 31, 1945 in the Kamikaze attack:

1. Arnold, Winston H.	Machinist's Mate 3rd Class (USNR)	Burbank, CA
2. Douglas, Marvin E.	Quartermaster 3rd Class (USNR)	East St. Louis, IL
3. Emery, Calvin B.	Bugler 2nd Class (USNR)	Salt Lake City, Utah
4. Garhart, John M.	Machinist's Mate 1st Class (USNR)	Great Falls, MO
5. Klucaric, Matt A.	Quartermaster 3rd Class (USNR)	Chicago, IL
6. Kuchenbach, Richard C.	Quartermaster 3rd Class (USNR)	Racine, WI
7. Lobato, Epifanio, Jr.	Yeoman 3rd Class - COM 5th Fleet Staff	Cabezon, NM
8. Procai, Earl P.	Bugler 2nd Class (USNR)	Minneapolis, MN
9. Smiley, Byron E.	Quartermaster 3rd Class (USNR)	Denham Springs, LA

The family of Earl Procai Bugler 2c received this letter of condolence from Chaplain Father Thomas Conway: 10 April 1945 U.S.S. INDIANAPOLIS Mr. Anthony Procai 211 9th Ave. NE Minneapolis, Minn.

Dear Mr. Procai:

The Navy Department has already informed you that your son Earl Peter Procai was killed in action on the morning of the 31st of March. It is my sad duty to add to this brief statement whatever details military security allows and to give you my sincere sympathy on the loss of your boy.

The blow which struck your son killed him instantly. As soon as he was hit two men carried him out of the damaged compartment. Our doctors examined him at once but he was beyond any assistance they could give. We carried his body down to the sick bay, encased it in a canvas burial shroud and then placed it in a wooden coffin. We buried him that afternoon. His flag draped coffin was placed on the quarterdeck and in the presence of Admiral R.A. Spruance, Commander of the Fifth Fleet, his staff, and the entire ship's company, I read the prayers over him. Six men from his division acted as bearers. They were Jimmy Wakefield S2c of Tulsa Okla., Fred Harrison of Waterbury, Conn., Jimmy French S1c of San Francisco, Cal., Vincent Allard QM3c of Omak, Wash., Robert Owens QM3c of Kingsport, Tenn., William Burt of Boise, Idaho. They carried him into a small boat alongside. The Marine firing squad fired three volleys and the ship's bugler sounded taps. We buried him in the American Cemetery on one of the small islands of the Pacific. The flag which draped his coffin is being sent to you and you should receive it soon.

Your son was one of the most well-liked and respected men aboard this ship. Everyone from the Commanding Officer down to the men in his division thought and spoke very highly of him. He was always cheerful and willing and devoted to his duties and we will all miss him very much. Our loss, however, will be small compared to the loss you will feel at losing such a wonderful boy. Our country is proud of him and shall never forget what he has contributed to her.

The memory of his courageous sacrifice will never fade and to us who knew him it shall ever be an inspiration and an encouragement to carry on the work that still must be done. I hope you will find some consolation in the thought that when this war shall end and peace and happiness will once more come to the world, you will remember that you, before all others, have paid the greatest price anyone could pay, for you have given your son and no one can do more than this.

I pray and hope that Almighty God in His Goodness will give you the strength to bear up under this severe loss and I know He will be most generous with you who have been so generous with others. May He help and bless you and your family.

Sincerely,
Thomas M. Conway
Chaplain, USNR.