Kristin's Reviews > Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis

My grandma's cousin, Florian Stamn, was one of 317 survivors of the USS Indianapolis that sunk on July 30, 1945. I never knew Florian and he died in 2015 at the age of 91. My mom told me about him, an interview of him she listened to, and a book talk she attended at the library about the disaster. I never knew anything about this "greatest sea disaster in naval history". My husband knew the reference to it in the movie, "Jaws". I didn't even remember that.

I came across this book while looking for middle-school appropriate memoirs at the bookstore yesterday. I know there have now been several books and essays written on the disaster, but this one intrigued me as it was inspired by the determination of a twelve-year old boy to clear the name of the ship's captain whom many, including the survivors, felt was unjustly court-martialed. This was another part of this story I did not know. A twelve-year old boy cleared the captain's name 55 years later???? How is this possible?

I rarely read non-fiction, but this book captivated me as did Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. How did 317 men survive being in shark-infested waters with no food or water for five days? Why weren't they rescued sooner? The USS Indianapolis carried the atomic bombs that the Enola Gay dropped on Japan??? Say, what? And a twelve-year old boy turned a History project into a Senate Joint Resolution? Come on!

The author included Hunter Scott's research, interviews and statements by the survivors, documentation from newspapers, photographs, maps, etc into this book which makes it engaging for students as well as adults. Anyone interested in history, especially sea disasters, would enjoy this book. I loved how behind all of the history, was a story of a determined boy who persevered to the bitter end.