Most men on USS Indianapolis were killed when the Japanese torpedoed the ship, but 317 survived. Of those, 38 are still living and most come to Indianapolis every year to be honored.
“These were young men and women who were really not very different from my kids today, who are college-aged, who stepped out of their ordinary lives in the city and on the farm and put on the uniform of the United States and they stood in the gap for freedom,” said Governor Mike Pence.
“There are still people who come to this reunion to ask, ‘Did anyone know my uncle? Did anyone know my dad?'”
Organizers say the 68th USS Indianapolis reunion is likely to be the last. That’s okay for them, because the recognition is nice but the bond they have from that July in 1945 is forever.