Rank / Rating: S2-Seaman Second Class
When my dad went into the service, my mother moved back home with my brother who was an infant at the time. My grandparents had a large colonial home that had room enough for our small family. I was born on New Year’s eve 1944. When the Indianapolis suffered damages in the spring of 1945 and was sent into dry dock for repairs, my dad was granted a short leave and came home to Connecticut for about four days. That would be the only time he would see me, and it would be the last time he would be with his family.
My dad loved life. He loved people. He had many great friends. He loved to run and swim. He was very athletic. Despite his small stature he was physically fit and had a will to live. He survived the four days and five nights in the water. Ironically, he was rescued on my parent’s 5th wedding anniversary. HE DIED TWO DAYS LATER AND WAS BURIED ON PELELIU. When my mother received the telegram notifying her of his death she thought it was a telegram from my father wishing her “Happy Anniversary”. She told the serviceman delivering it that he did not have to stay while she read it, but he refused to leave. He said that he had orders to stay.
When my dad died my mom was 27 years old, my brother was 3 years old, and I was 7 months. My mother was given very little information from the navy. Five years after my fathers death she had his body brought back from Peleliu. He was buried with military honors in New Pine Grove Cemetery in Waterbury, Connecticut. We first started learning the real story of what happened to the Indianapolis from the book written by Richard Newcomb, Abandon Ship. We saw the first picture of my dad's funeral just a few years ago in a book called Ordeal by Sea by Thomas Helm. The navy sent us nothing. My mother was haunted by not knowing what happened in those five days at sea. She always said that she wished she could talk to someone who was there with him. Her dream was to go to Indianapolis to see the monument. She died the year that it was dedicated.
A few years ago, my daughter saw an article in the Parade Magazine about the Indianapolis and about the USS Indianapolis Survivors Organization. Soon after that my daughter, my niece, and I attended our first Survivors Reunion. She was determined to attend. I was fearful of going. I expected it to be very painful for me emotionally. However, it was just the opposite. For me it was a healing experience.
Being with people who understood your pain without having to explain it to them was very healing for me. I was also very touched to see the granddaughter of Captain Hashimoto at the reunion with her family. I think it took great courage and compassion for her to come. The way she was embraced by the survivors and the families of the USS Indianapolis crew was heart warming. Coming to Indianapolis, for me, was like a pilgrimage. I felt like I carried both my mother and father there with me. They are finally together and I am finally at peace. Thank you to all of you who have made the monument a reality and to all of you who work so hard to make the reunions possible. I would also like to say that I will be forever grateful to Survivor Frank Centazzo. He touched my heart.
My dad left behind:
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ABBOTT, George Stanley 
FRONTINO, Vincent Fred 
AMICK, Homer Irwin