Should it be the will of the Kentucky General Assembly during the Spring 2024 session, signage honoring a survivor of the U.S.S. Indianapolis disaster will soon grace each end of Land Between the Lakes.
During Monday night’s Trigg County Fiscal Court meeting, magistrates and Judge-Executive Stan Humphries unanimously approved a drafted resolution asking such an honor be bestowed for Trigg County native Edgar A. Harrell — who, on October 10, 1924, was born near Golden Pond to the late Alvin H. and Myra Belle Atwood Harrell.
In the book Out of the Depths — an autobiography co-written alongside his son, David — Harrell had several excerpts of his experiences, but the opening lines detail his life in west Kentucky.
There, in a small house near the banks of the Tennessee River, Harrell truly hailed from Turkey Creek. He was the oldest of two girls and seven boys, a descendant of the British Isles, and had hard-working parents.
Shoes came once a year from Sears Roebuck, and, for the most part, they made their own toys.
By the time Harrell was a junior in high school, the Pacific Theater of World War II was in full throes. After June 4-7, 1942, better known as the Battle of Midway, Harrell said he was “compelled” to volunteer for the U.S. Marine Corps. In the fall of 1943, following the conclusion of the corn farming season, he went to the draft board and enlisted.
Two years later on July 26, 1945, not even aged 21 years, Harrell was one of 1,196 souls stationed aboard the ill-fated ship that had delivered key components for the atomic bomb “Little Boy” — one of two nuclear devices lobbed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, effectively ending the conflict.
Four days later, the I-58 Japanese submarine torpedoed the vessel — leaving it adrift to rapidly sink in warm Pacific waters.
More than 900 survived the initial explosion, but a number of obstacles claimed hundreds of lives, including a lack of life jackets and life boats, dehydration, exposure, shark attacks.
Harrell went on to note the heavy cruiser — which had made key appearances in the Marianas, Iwo Jima and Okinawa — sank in 15 minutes, went down without a trace, and no one but the survivors aware it had been lost.
He would also write: “I still remember my first impression when I boarded the Indy, as she was affectionately called: This thing is big—really big! It was like a floating city. For a country boy from Kentucky, it was overwhelming. The sight of the massive guns gave me goosebumps. Never having seen guns larger than a double-barreled shotgun, I remember laughing to myself, thinking, ‘My, my, my. We can win the war just by ourselves with these monsters.’”
By the time survivors were spotted by patrol aircraft, it was August 2, 1945. Nearly five days had passed since the military engagement, as a litany of communication errors kept officials off course.
Harrell was one of only 316 to survive, and with more than 880 perishing, the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis remains one of the country’s worst maritime disasters in history.
Upon his return to domestic soil, Harrell moved to Rock Island, Illinois, and worked as owner/operator of Pella Window Company for 35 years until his 1985 retirement.
In 2018, Harrell and the other remaining survivors were honored with the Congressional Gold Medal.
At the time of his May 8, 2021, death in Clarksville, Tennessee, Harrell was but one of five crewman and the last living U.S. Marine from the ship.
He is buried in Murray’s Memorial Gardens in Calloway County.
Humphries noted the request for Harrell will be paired with the emergency resolution seeking signage along the 4.5 mile marker of Hwy. 1062, in order to honor the nine Ft. Campbell soldiers who on March 29 in Trigg County died in a training incident, following a two-helicopter crash.
Harrell’s signs will be placed following approval from Frankfort.
RELATED LINKS:
Excerpt_9780764217647.pdf (bakerpublishinggroup.com)
Last surviving Marine of USS Indianapolis dies at age 96 – ABC News (go.com)
