Article about USS Indianapolis Survivor Adolpho Celaya

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Date: Nov 15, 2008

Article about USS Indianapolis Survivor Adolpho Celaya

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'Harpo' Celaya honored at 76th annual Jr. Parada

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Staff Reports

November 12, 2008

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Harpo Celaya

Adolpho "Harpo" Celaya, a Florence native who returns home each year for the Junior Parada, will be honored as grand marshal of this year's parade on Nov. 29.

"I'm kind of thrilled about it," Celaya said by phone Tuesday. "... That was a big thing for us when we were growing up."

The mid-1940s were an exciting time for Celaya. As a young sailor in the U.S. Navy, he survived the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in 1945. When he returned to Florence to resume his high school studies, he led the basketball team to a state championship in 1947.

Although he never graduated from Florence, the class of 1950 will honor Celaya at the American Legion the evening of Friday, Nov. 28. The following day, he will meet friends at Gibby's after the parade.

One of his favorite Junior Parada memories is when Bill Clemans, a local cattle man and major rodeo producer, was grand marshal. "He was very nice to me when I was going to school," Celaya said.

Celaya runs a heatiing and air conditioning business with his son and has lived in San Jose, Calif., for approximately 40 years. His son, Anthony, and daughter, DeeDee, will accompany their father to this year's Junior Parada.

Celaya was born in Florence on May 16, 1927 to Amparo Encinas Celaya and Adolpho Celaya Sr.

As a 17-year-old sailor, he was stationed aboard the USS Indianapolis when the ship unloaded parts for the atom bomb at the tropical island of Tinian. The bomb would later be dropped on Hiroshima. The USS Indianapolis was on its way back to the Philippines when a Japanese submarine sank it with a torpedo.

Of the 1,200 men aboard, 400 never made it into the water. The rest, Celaya among them, hit the choppy seas where the horror really began. As the men clung to life rafts or life vests, sharks began to attack. When their rescue came almost five days later, only 317 men were pulled alive from the deadly sea.

Celaya said 60 to 70 survivors are still alive today, and are honored each year in a parade in Indianapolis.

Interest in the ship and the attack remain high, and Celaya has given presentations on it to many high schools and junior colleges. He has spoken in Florence, Casa Grande, Tucson and a couple of Phoenix schools. His most recent presentation was in Queen Creek.

After his Navy service, he returned home to Florence, where he played on the high school basketball team with cousin Mark Navarre and his double cousins David Celaya and Fred Celaya. Everyone else on the team was also Florence-born, Celaya recalled. The Florence Union High School Gophers out-played the best teams in the state to win the state championship in Tucson that year.

"A little town came down to take on one of the big giants," Celaya recalled. The tired Florence team still managed to whip Douglas for "one of the biggest upsets anyone ever pulled."

Harpo Celaya was named captain of the first string all-state squad and was leading scorer for the tournament with a 59 points in four games. Other team members were Charlie Gamez, Eddie Cathemer, Harold Boggs, Ross Inglish, Gilbert Ortiz and Mickey Jimenez. A team photo that year also includes Manager Oscar Padilla and Coach George Ahee.

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