LEFT TO DIE: The Tragedy of the USS Juneau PDF
Preview LEFT TO DIE: The Tragedy of the USS Juneau
LEFT TO DIE TRAGEDY THE OF USS THE jyHlAll POCKET BOOKS :-*^ ^Smu^^^ How nearly 700 men-includin^f the five Sullivan brothers-died in torpedo and shark attacks in one of WWII's most secret scandals DANKURZMAN Award-winning author of Fatal Voyage: The Sinking of the L/5S Indianapolis "Smokes and crackles with outrage."—Jonathan Kirsch. Los Angeles Times LOOK FOR 4 DAN KURZMAN'S $5.99U.S. FflTflL UOYflGE: $7.99CAN. The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis "A gripping story oftragedy and cover-up by the U.S. Navy. This is the kind of book that only a top investigative reporter could write." —Robert Pierpoint, CBS News Available from Pocket Books — , A Tragedy at Sea. A Shocking Naval Cover-Up. Award-winning journalist Dan Kurzman tells the gripping true story of the brave fighting men who were . • • LEFT TO DIE The Tragedy of the USS Juneau "One of the worst disasters in U—.S. Navy history The story ofthe sinkingoftheJuneau alongwith questions that still persist over the Navy's probity in the blast aftermath " is told in riveting detail— ^William Gordon, Newark Star-Ledger "[A] wrench—ing story. ..." ^Floyd Beaver, San Francisco Examiner & Chronic^ "[A] powerful book about the horrors of war at sea ... a " taleofsurvivalagainstallodd—s,oftenprofilesincourage Ronn Ronck, Honolulu Advertiser "Vivid accounts of the survivors' battle against sharks and deUrium [Left to Die] strongly suggests that the U.S. Navy tried to cover up tragic errors and misjudgments that followed the sinking of th—e USS Juneau.** ^Jack Hovelson, Des Moines Register "Kurzman'sprovocative questions shed newhght on the cir- cumstances that led to unfathomed suffering and sacrifice ... a gripping tale." — ^P. L. Tarter, Commonwealth Journal Turn thepagefor reviews ofDan Kurzman's Fatal Voyage. . Also by Dan Kurzman • • • FATAL VOYAGE The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis "Kurzman brings to Fatal Voyage a sense of urgency and high drama Thanks to Fatal Voyage, the sacrifice of the men of the Indianapolis has been suitably remembered . . and honored." — ^Jonathan Kirsch, Los Angeles Times i"nMrt.heKumrezmmaonr'ys descAriptwieolnl-toofldt—heaInnddidainsatpuorlbiisng.—. .dilsinagsetresr story." — William H. Honan, The New York Times Book Review ''[Fatal VoyageYs greatest asset is the author's marvelous storytelling ability. No suspense novel could be more rivet- ing than [this] heroic survival—narrative " ^Larry Haueter, Tampa Tribune "One hell of a good story." — Bill Boldenweck, San Francisco Examiner "Kurzman takes this gigantic tragedy and tells it in very personal terms The writing style is compelling Kurz- man records dozens of tales of heroism, large and small. One can onlymarvel at thesuperhumanfeatsmanis capable of in times of crisis." — Rich Gotshall, Indianapolis Star "An excellent book All of Stephen King's fictional ter- ror couldn't begin to approach the real horrors endured by both those initial sinking survivors who were ultimately res- cued and those who died miserably Kurzman's writing skill plus his dihgent research bring this bit of horrible and tawdry history ahve." —Charles Edgren, ElPaso Herald-Post "Kurzman's gripping book pain—ts a ... horrib—le scene. The sinking of the Indianapolis was and remains perhaps the most shameful naval disaster in American—history." ^Ken Gross, People "In dramatic and entertaining fashion, Kurzman recreates the ill-fated cruise and the tragic aftermath Kurzman, an able historian and a talented writer, gives an especially grip- pmg account of the survivors' day—s adrift." ^Jim Kobak, Kirkus Reviews "A first-rate work, covering the details of the sinking, the five-day ordeal of the survivors in shark-infested water, and the unusual court-martial." — Publishers Weekly "A compelling narrative ... A true story as gripping as any thriller fiction. The human suffering it documents is epic in its breadth and penetrating in its depth Painstaking and agonizing heart-wrenching." . .—. ^Barrett Richardson, Virginian-Pilot and Ledger-Star Books by Dan Kurzman Left to Die: The Tragedy ofthe USS Juneau* Fatal Voyage: The Sinking ofthe USS Indianapolis* A Killing Wind: Inside Union Carbide and the Bhopal Catastrophe Day ofthe Bomb: Countdown to Hiroshima Ben-Gurion: Prophet ofFire Miracle ofNovember: Madrid's Epic Stand 1936 The Bravest Battle: The 28 Days ofthe Warsaw Ghetto Uprising The Racefor Rome Genesis 1948: The First Arab-Israeli War Santo Domingo: Revolt ofthe Damned Subversion ofthe Innocents Kishi andJapan: The Searchfor the Sun *Published by POCKET BOOKS Forordersotherthanbyindividualconsumers.PocketBooks grants a discount on the purchase of 10 ormore copies of single tides for special markets orpremium use. Forfurther details,pleasewritetotheVice-PresidentofSpecialMarkets, PocketBooks, 1230AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork, NY 10020. For information on how individual consumers can place orders, please write to Mail Order Department, Paramount Publishing,200OldTappan Road, OldTappan, NJ07675. LEFT TO DIE THE TRAGEDY OF THE US JIIHIAI! S DAN KURZMAN POCKETBOOKS NewYork London Toronto Sydney Tokyo Singapore — For my dear wife, Florence whose spirit brightens every page even as the ocean roars its rage ThesaleofthisbookwithoutItscoverisunauthorized. Ifyou purchased this book without a cover, you should be awarethat it was reported to thepublisheras"unsoldanddestroyed."Neithertheauthornorthepub- lisher has received paymentforthe sale ofthis "stripped book." POCKETBOOKS, adivisionofSimon & SchusterInc. 1230 Avenue ofthe Americas, New York, NY 10020 Copyright © 1994 by Dan Kurzman All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereofin any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 ISBN: 0-671-74874-2 First Pocket Books paperback printing May 1995 987654321 10 POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster Inc. Front cover illustration by Brian Kotzky Printed in the U.S.A. Acknowledgments I am deeply grateful to my wife, Florence, for her indis- pensable collaboration in the preparation of this book. She helped to edit it, rewriting passages and offering invaluable advice on bringing to life the characters portrayed. Mywarm thanks are alsoduePaulMcCarthy, myeditorat Pocket Books, and Juhan Bach, my agent, for their splendid editorial suggestions. I wish to express my appreciation as well to the following people for their generous help in faciUtating my research: — Pat Ailing —^hbrarian, Waterloo, Iowa, Public Library Bilhe Bailey director, Grout Museum of History and Sci- ence, Waterlo—o, Iowa Richard Boylan archivist, Suitland Reference Branch, Na- tional Archives,—Washington, D.C. Mary Catalfamo ^librarian, Nimitz Library, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapohs, Maryland — Bernard F. Cavacante director. Operational Archives Branch, Naval H—istorical Center, Washington, D.C. Rebecca Christian ^free-lanc—e writer Col. Elhot V. Converse III Historical Research Center, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama vii — ACKNOWLEDGMENTS — Deb Cue office of—the president, Citibank Capt. George Cully Historical Research Center, Maxwell Air Force Base — Dan Dundon —city editor, Waterloo Courier Dick Gamma Historical Research Center, Maxwell Air Force Base— Susan Graves daughter-in-law of Vice Adm. Robert B. Carney — Father Donald—Hawes ^pastor, St. Mary's Church, Waterloo John Hodges Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, D.C — Scott Johnson scientist, Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego, Calif—ornia Robert Kemp—USS Juneau researcher Yuko Ku—bota ^interpreter from Japanese Jim Lee Naval Historical Foundation — Kenneth Lyftog—t professor, University of Northern Iowa Michael Magee ^researcher, SuUivan family Jean Max Time magazine — John C. Reilly, Jr. Ships Histories Branch, Naval Histori- cal Center— Saul Shapiro ed—itor, Waterloo Courier Hiromi Shino—bu translator from Japanese Seiichi Soeda coordinator, media assistance. Foreign Press Center/Japa—n, Tokyo, Japan Paul Stillwell editor, Naval History, U.S. Naval Institute, AnnapoUs, Maryland — Jan Taylor Ubrarian, Grout Museum of History and Science — Richard A. von Doenhoff naval historian, Mihtary Refer- ence Branch,—National Archives Mike Walker archivist. Operational Archives Branch, Naval Histor—ical Center Cheri Watson Ships Histories Branch, Naval Historical Center — Harold Woodruff official, Army-Navy Country Club, Ar- lington, Vir—ginia Mary Zlabek librarian, Waterloo Courier Among the persons kind enough to grant me interviews were: viii
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