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The vulnerability of men serving
their country is dramatically recalled in these stories, beginning
with two vivid tales of survival at sea. Tales of prisoners of
war span five wars, from World War I, with its relatively genteel
conditions, to the privations suffered by the men and women who
fought the Japanese, Vietnamese, and Iraqis, when civility often
took a back seat to expediency and cruelty. In each instance, the
prisoner tapped on reserves of fortitude and patience to overcome
their captors' brutality. |
Giles McCoy in uniform,
circa 1940's. |
GILES
G. MCCOY
After surviving three of the Pacific Theater's most harrowing
campaigns and a kamikaze attack, Marine Giles
McCoy thought
the worst was over when his ship returned to the States for
repairs in the summer of 1945. But that ship, the heavy cruiser
USS Indianapolis, had one more mission to perform, whose
aftermath--hundreds of men stranded for days in shark-infested
waters--was an event whose horrible consequences still reverberate. |
 Learn
more about Giles G. McCoy
 Jump
to other stories featured in Chapter Five |
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"I
didn't want to end up in the belly of some shark and neither
did the other guys." (Audio Interview, Part 2,
5:38)
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"I
would have been afraid, except that I was so grateful to
be alive."
Rhonda
Cornum's story
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"It's
very important to exercise your mind in prison."
Roger
Dean Ingvalson's story
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"'We
are all Americans, we don't differentiate by religion.'"
Johann
C.F. Kasten, IV's story
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"I
wasn't as cocky. It was a pain to go back into battle."
Harold
Augustus Lippard's story
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"I
was privileged to observe a thousand acts of courage and
compassion and love."
John
S. McCain, III's story
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"I
could feel the heat of the muzzle, and I said, 'Well this
is it.'"
Jose
Mares' story
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"It
seems mine was the death room, each new patient ... very
sick, no one surviving..."
Harold
W. Riley's
story |
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"I'm
probably the only G.I. in the U.S. Army who sunk a warship
single handedly."
John
L. Stensby 's story |
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"Let
courage be your password, make fortitude your guide/And then
instead of grousing, remember those who died."
Milton
W. Stern's story |
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The
Library of Congress
Veterans History Project
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