Louis Harold Erwin |
![Image of Louis Harold Erwin](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090114131303im_/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/natlib/afc2001001/service/06006/ph0001001i.jpg)
Louis Harold Erwin, 2003 | World War II, 1939-1946
Navy
USS Indianapolis (CA 354)
Pacific Theater; Gilbert Islands; Marshall Islands; Mariana Islands; Western Caroline Islands; Iwo Jima; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands)
Coxswain
Dayton, TN
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090114131303im_/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/natlib/afc2001001/vhp-stories/web/images/ex-war-card-bottom.gif) |
Louis Erwin spent four days and five nights at sea after the USS Indianapolis went down,
floating in a kapok life jacket. He lost hundreds of shipmates during those harrowing
days and nightsto sharks, to madness from drinking salt water, and from a loss of hope
for rescue. Erwin survived, only to see their captain court-martialed for the sinking. For
Erwin, the tragedy is that Leyte did not alert anyone to the fact that the Indianapolis
never arrived.
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