Sailor Receives Navy Cross for Saving Sailors From Sharks
Over five days, the shipwrecked sailors fought against sharks, hypothermia, and desperation.
Lieutenant Thomas Conway, a Navy chaplain, was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his actions during the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in the last days of World War 2.
On July 30, 1945, Lt. Conway was a Catholic priest assigned to the USS Indianapolis, a heavy cruiser, that was sailing from Guam to Okinawa in preparation for the invasion of Japan.
A few days prior, the USS Indianapolis had completed a highly secretive mission. The cruiser had delivered the “Little Boy,” one of the two atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan, to Tinian.