USS Indianapolis Survivor John Heller Dies-- Part 2: The Savior Marine and Sharks

In a 2012 interview, John Heller remembered: "We had a Marine with us, thank God. And, if a guy went beserk and started drinking seawater or started swimming away, or tried to take one of us down with him, he'd have to hit him, and he'd take the jackets off him and make sort of a float ring out of it to give us more buoyancy in the water because our jackets were getting pretty water-soaked." //// He continued: "It was pretty hard to say what we did during the day. We'd watch the sharks go by. They'd miss me and get somebody else. But they had a big feast out there. They didn't need a little small guy like me." After rescue and recovery, Heller was sent to Washington, D.C., to testify at the court-martial of his captain, who later committed suicide. //// After the war, he was discharged and returned to Michigan. For 37 years he owned four gas stations in Birmingham and Troy. //// He was te last survivor of the Indianapolis living in Michigan. //// --GreGen