WikiTree Blog

Gus O’Dell Hollis, U.S. Navy during W.W. II

“He served his country in the U.S. Navy during W.W. II and received an Honorable Discharge November 27, 1945. He also received several commendations, including the Asiatic Pacific Area Campaign Medal, the Phillipine Liberation Medal and the W.W. II Victory Medal. He was shipped to the Phillipines on the USS Indianapolis which left for on a secret mission in the early morning hours of July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis, just 4 days after it delivered the first combat-ready atomic bomb to the US air base at Tinian Island in the Pacific, was fatally struck by torpedoes from Japanese subs. Within minutes, some 900 of the 1,196 men on board were in the shark infested waters, equipped only with life jackets. Few life rafts were deployed. The shark attacks began with the rising sun that morning and continued until the remaining men were rescued just over 4 days later. Of the initial 900 or so men that went into the water, only 317 survived, making it the worst maritime disaster in U.S. Navy history.”