Project 888

PROJECT 888

How You Can Help

The story of USS Indianapolis is well known. Search for information that tells the story of a crew member's life - his hopes, dreams and especially the impact of his death on his family.

Biographical information may be submitted by family members or by anyone interested in honoring one or more of Indianapolis' fallen crew members.

Family members are the greatest source of information. Even after 76 years there are some wives, brothers, sisters, children, and grandchildren keeping their story alive. Family members may have letters, photos, medals, and stories handed down. Your search will lead to amazing stories.

For this research you may need "boots on the ground" - visiting government offices, high schools or colleges for yearbooks, church archives, the genealogy department of libraries, state archive centers, etc.

Three questions to research:
    1. What was your crew member's life before joining the Navy or Marines Corp?
    2. What was your crew member planning for his future?
    3. What was the lifelong impact on his family?

Resources for Locating Crew Information

Item	Title	Type of Resource and Description	Helpful Information
1	HonorStates.org	A military records website: Click on FEATURES Click on WWII Click Maritime Losses Click on USS Indianapolis (CA-35)	There is a biography of all 888 lost-at-sea crew with 229 photos. You can add photo if missing.
2	www.wwiimemorial.com	Search this WWII Registry for data entered by family or friend.	Must create free account. Many photos and obituaries for Indy crew have been located here.
3	Find-a-Grave www.findagrave.com	Millions of grave records entered by volunteers.	Must create free account. Many photos and obituaries for Indy crew have been located here.
4	Ancestry.com Fold 3 Newspapers.com	Requires a paid subscription to Ancestry.com for six months or one year.	Many public libraries have an Ancestry account you can access at no charge.
5	Latter Day Saints (LDS) Centers www.familysearch.org	Create a free account.	Extensive information. Photos from high school annuals are on this site.
6	State Archives Example: Tennessee Archives Nashville, TN	States usually have archives in each capital city with impressive storage of data.	Call ahead to your state library with your request to search WWII records.
7	Hometown newspapers	Obituaries of LAS crew were posted in hometown newspapers in 1945	Most obituaries will be on microfilm but some small towns have the actual paper.
8	Hometown libraries High School Libraries	Most state and local libraries have a genealogy center. Schools have a collection of former yearbooks.	Many state and local libraries have a collection of old newspapers and genealogy files and yearbooks. Some high school libraries have kept yearbooks. Call asking what information is available.
9	navymemorial.org	Create a free account. Is a service of the Naval History and Heritage Command Center (NHHC).	Click on Navy Log at bottom of page; search by person's name or search name of ship.

(Note: The National Archives is not listed as a resource. It is restricting requests for military service records during the Covid crisis. Complete policy can be found at www.archives.gov - Veterans Service Records.)
Once you have researched your family member or another crew member, complete the Submission Form.
Any Questions? Send to admin@ussindianapolis.com. An Education Committee member will respond.