Posted on 11/12/2008 9:07:43 PM PST by Coleus
A survivor and a rescuer in one of the deadliest episodes in U.S. Navy history — the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in World War II — will be reunited Thursday at Lakeland Regional High School.
The cruiser, which carried parts for the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, was sunk by a Japanese submarine on July 30, 1945, four days after it delivered the parts to Tinian Island.
After it was sunk, 900 crew members spent days in shark-infested waters; only 316 survived. One of the survivors, Don Blum of Scarsdale, N.Y., will attend the program Thursday, called "USS Indianapolis Still at Sea."
William Van Wilpe, 83, a Wanaque resident who was on a ship that rescued the sailors, will also attend. Van Wilpe was awarded Navy and Marine Corps medals for heroism for his part in the rescue. "[Van Wilpe] never talked about it when he came home from the war," said Councilman Tom Balunis, author of the book "Sixty Years Later," which recounts his efforts to get recognition for the borough resident.
Van Wilpe was working as a custodian at Lakeland when a librarian who was reading about the Indianapolis saw his name and asked if he was the man mentioned in the book. Van Wilpe served aboard the USS Bassett, a transport ship. "[Van Wilpe] dove into water … 10-foot swells to get those guys out," Balunis said.
The program is free and will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The multi-media presentation will be emceed by Kim Nielsen of Seattle, a flight attendant for Alaskan Airlines who has been taking the Indianapolis story around the country. The program is sponsored by the Wanaque VFW and American Legion, the VFW District 1 and the Wanaque Republican Club.
His tale is part of what influenced my son to join the Navy and to serve in Iraq on the USS Lincoln, their mission was accomplished, as was that of the Indianapolis. The price those men paid though, was far, far greater and should and will be forever be remembered.
Navy History ping
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