Louis “Kayo” Erwin, survivor of the USS Indianapolis, with the fifth grade class at Bright School.
It isn’t every day that a real live hero straight from the pages of American history visits an elementary school, but fifth graders at the Bright School were recently treated to just such an experience. Louis “Kayo” Erwin is a survivor of the USS Indianapolis, a ship sunk by a Japanese submarine torpedo on July 30, 1945, as it sailed from Guam to Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. The original crew numbered 1,196, but only 317 sailors survived the initial strike and the harrowing days of dehydration and shark attacks that followed.
Less than 50 Indianapolis sailors are still alive today.
Nearly 70 years after the fateful day, Mr. Erwin still vividly recalls the strike and its aftermath. The sailors went into the sea and had no food or fresh water the entire time they waited to be rescued. Erwin was picked up by Lt. Adrian Marks PBY and crew along with 55 other men.
Only four days before the attack, the Indianapolis had delivered the atomic bomb to the island of Tinian that would later be dropped on Hiroshima.
“We are so fortunate to have Mr. Erwin share memories of his exemplary service with our students,” said O.J. Morgan, head of school. “Our freedom is hard won, and good men and women like Mr. Erwin represent the best in us. I know his great courage will be something our students will forever remember."
Louis “Kayo” Erwin, survivor of the USS Indianapolis, is pictured with his great-grandson Barrett Chambers, a fifth grader at the Bright School.