Project 888
Name: Stanley Otto KASTEN
Rank / Rating: HA1-Hospital Apprentice First ClassService #: 942 19 02 DOB: Jun 03, 1925 From: Hoyleton, IL Parents: Went Aboard: April 25, 1944 Age When Ship Went Down: 20 years, 1 months, 27 days Spouse: Children: Grandchildren: Bio Submitted By: Admin |
 KASTEN, Stanley O |
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Hospital Apprentice First Class Kasten was born June 3, 1925 on a farm near Hoyleton, IL, and was raised in Steeleville, IL.
Two months after enrolling at Valparaiso University, he was drafted into the Navy on November 8, 1943.
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| Stanley received naval medical training at Farragut, ID and also Bremerton, WA prior to being assigned on April 25, 1944, at Shoemaker, CA to the USS Cruiser Indianapolis CA-35, Flagship of the Fifth Fleet. Aboard Indianapolis, he participated in the actions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. During the attack on Okinawa, the ship was damaged by a Japanese kamikaze suicide plane. The next major assignment which helped to end the war was to make a record run from San Francisco to Tinian Island to deliver materials for the atomic bomb which would later be dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. On July 30, 1945, after having delivered the materials days before, the Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine, 450 miles from Leyte in the Philippine Sea. An officer and friend who served with Stanley and survived the disaster, L. R. Haynes, Lt. Comdr. (MC) USN, wrote the following to his parents: (excerpts) “I know it is of little consolation, the second torpedo hit in the sick bay where Stanley was on watch, and I believe he was killed instantly and went down with the ship. We all liked Stanley very much. He was to have made Pharmacist Mate Third Class on Aug. 1, and no one deserved it more. He was a good, clean lad who worked hard and cheerfully, and I relied on him very much. I have three sons, and if they grow up to be as fine lads as Kasten was, I will be well satisfied. I hope and pray to God that we never again have another war.” Stanley was 20 and received the Purple Heart, World War II Ribbon, American Campaign, and the Atlantic Pacific Campaign. "My thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.” - Isaiah 55,8. | |
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