Good morning!

As you can imagine, the residents of Indianapolis take great pride in the history of the USS Indianapolis and its crew. The Indiana War Memorial Museum in the heart of our city has a large space dedicated to telling the ship's story, and the National Memorial bearing the names of the ship's company sits on the north end of the Canal Walk that winds through downtown.

This fall, one of Indy's oldest social organizations, the Contemporary Club of Indianapolis, is planning a dinner and program at the Indiana War Memorial centered on the history and recent discovery of the USS Indianapolis. I am the incoming president of the organization, and am looking for a few special guests for the evening. These guests would  participate in a conversation led by Brigadier General J. Stewart Goodwin (Retired), Executive Director of the Indiana War Memorials, on the stage of the historic Pershing Auditorium.

Dr. Richard Hulver, a historian with the Naval History and Heritage Command, is flying out from Washington, D.C. to take part in the conversation. I would like to include in the program someone who is intimately familiar with the USS Indianapolis' crew, and thought that this forum would be a wonderful place to start.

I would love to hear from any of you. Feel free to send me an email at samantha_hyde@usc.salvationarmy.org. Thank you!

Best regards,

Samantha (Sam) Hyde