Indianapolis

The Book in 1 Sentence

The incredible story of surviving, thriving, and making things right for a ship and it's crew that was sunk at the end of WWII.

Brief Review

For a book that starts so slow, I was so close to stopping. I am so glad that I didn't. There is an unbelievable amount of trauma and story that is told in this book. To be honest, it has been told 5 times before, but I don't think it has ever been done so completely. It also ends in a way that makes you have faith in the world again. Not in the government, but the world itself.

Why I Read this book

I served in the Marines and I saw Jaws where the story of the Indianapolis is discussed. I wanted to know more.

In-Depth Review (Favorite Quotes)

I cannot express to you how bored I was of the first 13 chapters, roughly. The story of the people on the ship and what they were doing, could have been condensed or left out entirely. You could have shrunk it to 4 chapters and not really lost anything. I understand, thought that this book was written partially for the survivors, but also for those people who lost someone on that ship. But they didn't name 1200 people, so I don't understand why we spent so much time on certain individuals that don't have a part in the later story. That is such a hard thing to write because their story matters to me and their families, but from a book standpoint, it just drug on in the beginning.

The second part is probably the most heart-wrenching story I have ever heard. I cannot imagine the feelings, thoughts, fights that occurred in the water and that feeling of both relief and fear when being rescued. The honesty of some of these men as well when receiving rations is not something I think you'd see today. Also, to have rescue there and to not have the strength to swim to the boat or plane is crushing to hear.

The story of the court-martial is absolutely infuriating. The amount of CYA that took place at the upper echelons of the Navy, to be forced on the next generations of Naval Leadership is even more crazy. I do not understand how someone who has no skin in the game can't make another decision or who in their right mind wouldn't want to admit to a mistake that took place 50 years ago. The selfishness and delusion of people, combined with arrogance and a sense of superiority is something I'll never understand.

Rating

The main reason I wanted to read this book was because I didn't realize the controversy with it. I had heard about the sinking and rescue. I had heard about the monument. But, I had never heard about the court-martial. I cannot fathom the amount of work the survivors put in to repay their captain. I also can't believe the depth of love they have for him. I was assigned to another section when I deployed, and I cannot remember my CO's name at that time. The fact that both Officers and Enlisted came together to save their Captain speaks volumes about his command during a time of incredible tragedy and war. That should have been enough to stop the court-martial in the beginning. From a book perspective, it is beautifully written and tells a deeply personal story. I am giving this an 8.

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