Memorial Day 2026

USS Indianapolis, CA-35

It's Memorial Day in the USA, and this year I am saluting the US Navy men of the Second World War.  The picture above is the USS Indianapolis monument in its namesake city.  In July of 1944, the Indianapolis was given the job delivering the components of the Little Boy atomic bomb to Tinian Island in the Marianas, and none of the men on board other than two "artillery officers" knew what was in those crates.  (My own father had served on Tinian in the 112th Seabees, one of several units that built the huge air base there.)  After delivering the cargo, the Indianapolis sailed to Guam and then into the Philippine Sea where she was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine just after midnight on July 30, 1945.  The ship sank in 12 minutes without radioing her location.  Over 300 men went down with the ship, and 583 died in the water under horrific conditions over the next several days.  Only 316 were rescued.  Those 883 men were the worst loss at sea in the history of the US Navy.  Below is the reverse side of the monument with the names of the dead inscribed.

So while we enjoy our barbecues, excursions to the lake, or a trip to the beach, 

stop for just a moment and remember these men and all the others like them.  

They deserve our eternal respect.

A two part photo series follows.