Veterans I met this past weekend

[Joe W]

I have met many WW2 Veterans over the years. I still associate with some that are members of the Marine Corps League Det. I belong to. While I have the utmost respect and admiration for each of them, the most interesting Vet I ever met was Pvt. Miles Spooner. In July of 1945 Miles was part of the Marine Detachment assigned to the USS Indinanapolis. The following is from the web site of the USS Indianapolis:

"The world's first operational atomic bomb was delivered by the Indianapolis, (CA-35) to the island of Tinian on 26 July 1945. The Indianapolis then reported to CINCPAC (Commander-In-Chief, Pacific) Headquarters at Guam for further orders. She was directed to join the battleship USS Idaho (BB-42) at Leyte Gulf in the Philippines to prepare for the invasion of Japan. The Indianapolis, unescorted, departed Guam on a course of 262 degrees making about 17 knots.
At 14 minutes past midnight, on 30 July 1945, midway between Guam and Leyte Gulf, she was hit by two torpedoes out of six fired by the I-58, a Japanese submarine.
Of the 1,196 aboard, about 900 made it into the water in the twelve minutes before she sank. Few life rafts were released. Most survivors wore the standard kapok life jacket. Shark attacks began with sunrise of the first day, and continued until only 316 men were still alive when rescued, almost five days later."

Of the 39 Marines in the Detachment only 9 survived.

Unfourtunatly I only knew Miles for a few short years before he died of cancer in 1997, but I will never forget him..

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