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Meet the Bradenton residents among survivors interviewed for ‘Indianapolis,’ a WWII story

By James A. Jones Jr.
Bradenton

That Don Howison, 96, is alive today is no small miracle.

The Bradenton resident is one of only 14 survivors of the USS Indianapolis, which sank in the Pacific Ocean after being hit by a pair of Japanese torpedoes in the waning days of World War II.

Don Howison, 96, of Bradenton was interviewed for a new book, “Indianapolis” by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic. Howison is one of 14 survivors of the sinking, and the last remaining officer. The Indianapolis was torpedoed and lost after a top secret mission to deliver components for the atomic bomb, Big Boy.
Don Howison, 96, of Bradenton was interviewed for a new book, “Indianapolis” by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic. Howison is one of 14 survivors of the sinking, and the last remaining officer. The Indianapolis was torpedoed and lost after a top secret mission to deliver components for the atomic bomb, Big Boy. James A. Jones Jr. jajones1@bradenton.com

The Indianapolis, a heavy cruiser, was sailing toward the Philippine Sea after a top-secret mission to deliver components for the atomic bomb “Little Boy” to the island of Tinian.

The B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped Little Boy on Hiroshima on Aug. 5, 1945, helping to bring World War II to a close.

But disaster struck the Indianapolis on July 30, 1945, when Japanese torpedoes tore into the ship.

Three hundred men aboard the Indianapolis lost their lives in the submarine attack, the start of a nightmare for the 900 shipmates who made it alive into the water.

When a B-29 bomber visited Sarasota Bradenton International Airport in 2016, World War II veterans Russell Gachkenbach, George Hardy and Harlan Twible, from left, paid a visit. Twible, who died in April, was interviewed for a new book on the sinking of the Indianapolis at the end of the war.
When a B-29 bomber visited Sarasota Bradenton International Airport in 2016, World War II veterans Russell Gachkenbach, George Hardy and Harlan Twible, from left, paid a visit. Twible, who died in April, was interviewed for a new book on the sinking of the Indianapolis at the end of the war. Bradenton Herald file photo

For the next five days, the survivors faced the horror of shark attacks, dehydration and more.

When rescued 300 miles from land, only 316 remained alive.

Howison and Harlan Twible, also of Bradenton, are among the survivors of the Indianapolis that authors Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic interviewed for their new book, “Indianapolis,” published last week by Simon & Schuster.

Howison, who sat recently for a Bradenton Herald interview, said he willed himself to survive.

“I decided I would survive no matter what. You had to have determination. Once you gave up, you weren’t long for the world,” Howison said.

The USS Indianapolis was commissioned in 1932 and was destroyed in a Japanese submarine attack in 1945. The loss of the ship and most of its crew is detailed in a new book, “Indianapolis,” by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic.
The USS Indianapolis was commissioned in 1932 and was destroyed in a Japanese submarine attack in 1945. The loss of the ship and most of its crew is detailed in a new book, “Indianapolis,” by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic. Provided photo

The Indianapolis, the flagship of the U.S. Pacific fleet, delivered its atomic cargo to Tinian without escort, and then continued on to Guam, where it discharged crew members who had completed their service obligation, and took on new crew members, before heading for Leyte, again without escort.

The Indianapolis was a fast ship and set a speed record of record of 74.5 hours sailing from San Francisco to Honolulu.

“We burned all the paint off the smokestack we were sailing so fast,” said Howison, who served as an ensign aboard the Indianapolis, and is the ship’s last surviving officer.

The new book, “Indianapolis,” by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic, is subtitled the true story of the worst sea disaster in U.S. Naval history and the 50-year fight to exonerate an innocent man. Two Bradenton residents were interviewed for the book.
The new book, “Indianapolis,” by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic, is subtitled the true story of the worst sea disaster in U.S. Naval history and the 50-year fight to exonerate an innocent man. Two Bradenton residents were interviewed for the book. Provided photo

Captain Charles B. McVay, skipper of the Indianapolis, was court martialed for the sinking of the Indianapolis, but was exonerated in 2000 by action of Congress and President Bill Clinton.

Twible, who also served as an ensign on the Indianapolis, died in April 2018.

In 2016, Twible told the Bradenton Herald that when the torpedoes hit the Indianapolis, one knocked off the bow and the other hit midship.

“After the bow went, it really wasn’t a ship anymore. We didn’t have to jump. We fell into the water,” Twible said.

“It was God’s will that I survived,” Twible said. “I did what I knew I had to do not because I was courageous, but because that is what the military taught me to do.”

Author Sara Vladic visited Bradenton resident Don Howison to interview him for the new book “Indianapolis,” which she co-authored with Lynn Vincent.
Author Sara Vladic visited Bradenton resident Don Howison to interview him for the new book “Indianapolis,” which she co-authored with Lynn Vincent. Provided photo

Vladic became interested in the story of the Indianapolis at age 13 after seeing a documentary on the loss of the ship. Years later, she reached out to survivors and attended her first survivors reunion. In 2005, she began interviewing survivors on camera.

“The commonality among survivors is that they would not give up. A lot of them went through a lot of hardship, but they had the fighting spirit,” Vladic said.

“It took many years of friendship and adopting them like family before they opened up,” she said.

Vincent said the Indianapolis survivors and other members of the Greatest Generation who fought World War II have a lot to offer.

“People today go through tough times. You stand up, dust yourself off, and get on with life,” Vincent said.

The survivors opened up to Vladic because they trusted her to keep some details private, while others wanted the whole truth to be told before it was too late.

One of the survivors interviewed for the book was John Woolston, the junior damage control officer aboard the Indianapolis.

An engineer by training, Woolston had written the official 1945 USS Indianapolis war damage report for the Navy in the weeks after the ship’s sinking. He also testified at Captain McVay’s court martial.

During the writing of the book, Woolston read draft after draft, scribbling his remarks in the margins.

“This is crap!” was one of the authors’ favorite notes from Woolston.

Woolston was passionate about the book, but he did not live to see it published.

When he died on June 7, 2018, a month before the book’s release, his marked-up copy of the bound manuscript was found on his living room end table, bookmarked and ready to pick up for another round of notes.

This story was originally published July 19, 2018 at 11:26 AM.

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