World War II Veteran Recounts Sinking of the USS Indianapolis-- Part 1

From the February 18, 2012, Detroit News by Tom Greenwood. //// John Heller, 84, of Clawson still remembers the tremendous explosion that woke him up. However, he can't remember how he survived his five days in the Pacific Ocean afterwards where he battled sharks, thirst and the delirium that killed so many of his shipmates. "I guess I was just lucky." //// He was just 17 when he convinced his mother to let him join the Navy in January 1945. He had an abbreviated training and was one of the 1,197 men assigned to the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis in San Francisco. //// Before the ship left port, he remembers two garage-size boxes loaded into the ship and guarded by heavily-armed Marines. The Indianapolis was carrying components for the two atom bombs. //// --GreGen