THIS WW II HISTORY WILL BE SHOWN AT THE COLON MI. LIBRARY. TUESDAY JULY 30 AT 6;30 PM
Dick Thelen will be present at this program to answer any questions that you may have about the horrific sinking of the USS Indianapolis on July 30th 1945. The Indy had just dropped off parts for the Atomic bomb to the island of Tinian and was heading to the Philippines to assist in the battle of the Philippines to start in Sept. and Oct of 1944 when she was hit by a Japanese submarine with four torpedoes just after midnight on 30 July 1945. There were 1197 men aboard her when she was hit. The ship sunk in about 12 minutes. Dick was in the water for over four days with no food or water. About 600 men died while in the water from delirium because of no water as well as shark attacks. The Navy was not even looking for the ship because they did not know the Indy was missing. They were found by accident.