HR 108 (LSB 5490YH (6) 84)

HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 108

BY  KAUFMANN, BAUDLER, PETTENGILL, ALONS, HAGENOW, BYRNES, HEIN, SWEENEY, JORGENSEN, WORTHAN, ROGERS, HAGER, LOFGREN, UPMEYER, J. TAYLOR, HANUSA, KEARNS, COHOON, RUNNING-MARQUARDT, WILLEMS, MUHLBAUER, BERRY, HEDDENS, THOMAS, WITTNEBEN, T. TAYLOR, ISENHART, LYKAM, MURPHY, LENSING, WESSEL-KROESCHELL, ABDUL-SAMAD, GAINES, HALL, JACOBY, STECKMAN, HUNTER, WINCKLER, M. SMITH, MASCHER, GASKILL, KRESSIG, KAJTAZOVIC, HANSON, H. MILLER, OLDSON, PETERSEN, WOLFE, R. OLSON, KELLEY, THEDE, T. OLSON, McCARTHY, VANDER LINDEN, SCHULTZ, J. SMITH, SHAW, PEARSON, FRY, PAULSEN, DEYOE, ANDERSON, DE BOEF, HUSEMAN, CHAMBERS, DRAKE, WATTS, RAYHONS, L. MILLER, FORRISTALL, GARRETT, BRANDENBURG, HEATON, HELLAND, WAGNER, SANDS, SODERBERG, GRASSLEY, COWNIE, MOORE, KLEIN, S. OLSON, PAUSTIAN, and MASSIE

A Resolution honoring the Iowans who were killed in or survived the attack on the USS Indianapolis on July 30, 1945.

   WHEREAS, on November 15, 1932, the USS Indianapolis was accepted and commissioned in the United States Navy; and
   WHEREAS, the USS Indianapolis served as the flagship of the Fifth Fleet through much of World War II, under the command of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance; and
   WHEREAS, all who served aboard the USS Indianapolis distinguished themselves and their ship in the Pacific during World War II, with the ship earning a total of 10 battle stars in the Pacific between 1942 and 1945; and
   WHEREAS, the USS Indianapolis was struck by a kamikaze plane in March 1945 at Okinawa, during the Okinawa Gunto Operation, resulting in 38 casualties; and
   WHEREAS, on July 26, 1945, the USS Indianapolis delivered the first operational atomic bomb to the island of Tinian, which less than two weeks later was flown by a B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, and dropped on Hiroshima to bring an early end to the war with Imperial Japan; and
   WHEREAS, on July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis, while transiting unescorted from Guam to the Leyte Gulf, was struck by two torpedoes fired by a Japanese submarine, the first torpedo striking the bow and the second striking near midship on the starboard side; and
   WHEREAS, the resulting explosion split the ship to the keel and knocked out electrical power, causing the USS Indianapolis to sink rapidly; and
   WHEREAS, of the 1,196 aboard, some 900 made it to the water in the 12 minutes before the ship sank; and
   WHEREAS, few life rafts were released and most survivors wore standard life jackets as shark attacks began at sunrise that day and continued until nearly five days later when 317 survivors were removed from the water, after their accidental discovery during a routine antisubmarine patrol; and
   WHEREAS, there were 30 Iowans on board the USS Indianapolis in the early morning of July 30, 1945; and
   WHEREAS, only three of the Iowans on board that morning, Seaman First Class Charles O. Wells of Camanche, Seaman Second Class Glen Laverne Milbrodt of Akron, and Electrician’s Mate Second Class Edward Chris Koche of Denison, survived the attack on the USS Indianapolis; NOW THEREFORE,

   BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, That the House of Representatives honors the lives and service of each of the Iowans who were killed in or survived the attack on the USS Indianapolis on July 30, 1945.