Harrell Edgar - Out of the depths : an unforgettable WWII story of survival, courage, and the sinking of the USS Indianapolis

2005, 2014 by Edgar Harrell and David Harrell

Published by Bethany House Publishers

11400 Hampshire Avenue South

Bloomington, Minnesota 55438

www.bethanyhouse.com

Bethany House Publishers is a division of

Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan

www . bakerpublishinggroup . com

Ebook edition created 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

ISBN 978-1-4412-6455-8

Quotes from survivors specially highlighted throughout this book are from Only 317 Survived! copyright 2002, USS Indianapolis Survivors Organization.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations identified NCV are from the New Century Version. Copyright 1987, 1988, 1991 by Word Publishing, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

This book recounts events in the life of Edgar Harrell according to the authors recollection and from the authors perspective. While all the stories are true, some dialogue and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of those involved.

Cover design by Paul Higdon

Author is represented by Walter Scott Lamb

There arent too many times when the word hero is appropriately used. Heroes are people who do extraordinary things in the service of others. Edgar Harrell is a true American hero.

Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, host of national television and radio shows, and bestselling author

Out of the Depths is a remarkably moving, moment by moment account of the valor, sacrifice, and faith of the crew aboard the USS Indianapolis . David Harrell honors his father, Edgar Harrell, a soft-spoken, reflective veteran of that heroic tragedy, by relating his fathers story. As I tried to do in my own book, When Hell Was in Session , Mr. Harrell splices and binds the connection and interdependence between courage in the face of death and spiritual faith.

The saying there are no atheists in foxholes may indeed be a clich, but it bears more than a kernel of truth. This book makes clear there arent many atheists, either, in the middle of the Pacific, when your ship is thousands of feet below you, sharks are tugging at your shipmates legs in the middle of the night, and you are imploring the sailor clinging to you, whom you met for the first time minutes after the explosion, to keep breathing and hanging onto the flotsam for just a little longerthat is, to have the faith to survive.

It is a harrowing account of the sacrifice of sailors and Marines who fought and died for their country, so we could live. It is a story you should not and will not ever forget.

Jeremiah A . Denton Jr ., RAdm , USN ( Ret .)

I am deeply grateful to Edgar Harrell and the United States Marine Corps. If our nation needs anything at this moment, it is the boost of stories of heroism, courage, and faith. Harrells unique description of being aboard the torpedoed Indianapolis in wartime and his experiences with the treacheries of the deep make an incomparable read. Brimmed full of illustrations of Gods graciousness and goodness even amidst incredible suffering, Out of the Depths ought to be read by every serious American.

Paige Patterson, President, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Dedicated to my shipmates, the crew of the USS Indianapolis