Summary Of Left For Dead By Pete Nelson

Death is inevitable. This is a well know fact. The tragedy of the U.S.S. Indianapolis is no exception. On the eve of July 26th, 1945 one thousand, one hundred and ninety-seven (1,197) men set out to sea for a mission: deliver unidentified cargo to a port in Guam. These men set out without knowledge that only three hundred and seventeen (317) sailors would return home. In the awarded book Left for Dead by Pete Nelson, he discusses in great detail the causes of the deaths of the eight hundred and eighty (880) sailors who died on the night of July 30st, 1945, but
“Knowing how the men in the water died is not the same thing as knowing why they died.” (101) World War two was under way. Every available man was called to serve his country, and this

Miner the second, Morgan M. Mosley, Cozell Smith, Maurice Glen Bell, and
Michael N. Kuryla who were all survivors of the sinking. In Nelson’s book, each veteran gave his testimony of what he witnessed during his enduring five days and four nights stay in the
Wise 2 shark infested Philippine Sea. Every story started the same. It was around midnight when there was an explosion on the ship.
Little did the crew know, they were just torpedoed by Japanese submarine commander,
Mochitsura Hashimoto. Immediately water started to flood the vessel. Everyone rushed to grab a lifejacket or anything that could be helpful. After a grand total of twelve minutes, the U.S.S
Indianapolis was engulfed in water. Approximately three hundred men went down with the ship.
Many people either drowned while in a lower part of the ship, or was pulled under with the pressure the ship caused when it sank. Everyone who was lucky, or unlucky, enough to make it out and away from the ship banned together to try and survive. “Water, water, everywhere, and all the boards did shrink; water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” a quote from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

As a direct result, many men died from drinking the seawater. The men who did drink the water would get saltwater poisoning and would lose their mind. They would hallucinate and would see things like islands of girls with ice cold drinks in their hands, or even Japanese enemies that were in fact their own crew mates. The water would eventually kill all the sailors who fell victim to its false promises of relief.
Wise 3 In Suzanne Collins’ book The Hunger Games, Collins writes “Hope is the only thing stronger than fear.” This is applicable to the sailors stranded in the Philippine Sea. A man with no hope will turn to horrible things. Many of the men who died in the water during the five days died because they lost hope that they'd be rescued. Hope will push anyone to do anything. A wife to move on after her husband's passing, a cancer patient to keep moving forward, and stranded sailors to continue living. These small acts of hope are what many survivors claimed kept them going during those terrible nights. In the darkest conditions, men are turned to the most gruesome, terriblest of actions.