About this Site References Contact Info Home

Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
ussindianapolis.org message board -> General Comments -> Death of Survivor Maurice Bell
Post Info TOPIC: Death of Survivor Maurice Bell
SurvivorsDaughter


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 343
Date:
Death of Survivor Maurice Bell
Permalink Closed

It is with great sadness that I pass on the news that USS Indianapolis Survivor Maurice Bell of Mobile Alabama passed away yesterday (Deecember 4, 2009)
 
Please keep Maurice and his family in your prayers.   
  
WWII VETERAN MAURICE BELL.JPG

FROM THE MOBILE PRESS-REGISTER:

WWII veteran Maurice Bell, a survivor of the USS Indianapolis sinking, dies in Mobile today

By Roy Hoffman

December 04, 2009, 1:13PM
(Press-Register/Mike Kittrell)Maurice Bell, who died Dec. 4, 2009, at age 84, was among the Mobile World War II veterans interviewed for "The War," a 14-hour PBS documentary series by filmmaker Ken Burns. The series, which aired in the fall of 2007, focused on four American cities, including Mobile. Bell, who survived the Japanese sinking of the USS Indianapolis, is shown during an interview with a Press-Register reporter Monday, Aug. 13, 2007, in his home.MOBILE, Ala. -- Maurice Glenn Bell, who endured the shark-infested waters of the Philippine Sea in 1945 after the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the fatalities of hundreds of other sailors, died today. He was at home, surrounded by his family.

The Mobile native, who had told his harrowing story to the nation on Ken Burns' PBS series "The War," was 84 years old.

In a 2007 Press-Register interview, Bell recalled being a seaman first class aboard the USS Indianapolis when the heavy cruiser was struck by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine: "Sunday night, just a few minutes after midnight, there was a loud explosion. That was the first thing we knew about a submarine."

A second torpedo struck. With its 1,197 crewmen and officers, the Indianapolis sank in about 12 minutes.

The next five days, to hear Bell tell it, were a nightmare, with men dying from drowning, exposure, and shark attacks. Only 321 would be pulled out alive.

"He'd use his story," said Bell's grandson, Ray Hall, "to give others hope and motivation never to quit, always to have hope, to have faith."

Said John Tyson, Sr., WWII veteran and commander of the American Legion Post 3, where Bell was active to the end: "His story showed the fortitude in a war, always the enthusiasm of the younger generation doing what they had to do."


__________________
Page 1 of 1  sorted by
 
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.
ussindianapolis.org message board -> General Comments -> Death of Survivor Maurice Bell
Tweet this page Post to Digg Post to Del.icio.us
;