HONOLULU — Navy Seaman 2nd Class George David Payne was simply 17 years previous when a Japanese submarine torpedoed his ship within the final weeks of World Struggle II, sinking the vessel and killing him together with greater than 800 different U.S. sailors.
For many years, his household thought he was lacking in motion. However now the Navy says newly analyzed paperwork present he was truly buried at sea.
{The teenager} from the city of Wyoming, Michigan, is one in all 13 sailors from the USS Indianapolis not too long ago found to have been given Navy committal ceremonies 77 years in the past. In response, the Navy modified their standing from “unaccounted for” to “buried at sea.”
“It’s reassuring that he was discovered and hopefully he didn’t undergo a lot,” his brother, David Payne, mentioned in an interview from Sparta, Michigan.
Payne mentioned it was a “shock” to listen to the information. He first thought it was a prank as a result of his household at all times believed George’s physique was by no means discovered.
Two Japanese torpedoes hit the USS Indianapolis on July 30, 1945, when the heavy cruiser was on its strategy to the Philippines from Guam. The ship sank in simply 12 to fifteen minutes. The Navy estimates about 300 sailors had been trapped inside and went down with the vessel.
The remaining 800 sailors deserted ship, however rescue vessels did not arrive for 4 days. Lots of of sailors died within the interim from accidents, dehydration and shark assaults. Solely 316 survived. It is generally known as one of many greatest tragedies in U.S. naval historical past.
“Survivors mentioned it was horrible to be within the water and the sharks had been simply taking these younger guys and older guys one by one and consuming them, and hauling them below and taking them away,” mentioned Payne. “And in order that’s what we at all times envisioned. You recognize, we hoped that possibly if he was on the ship possibly he was killed outright — as an alternative of struggling.”
Payne, who was born a 12 months after the struggle ended, by no means met George, who was the third of 12 kids. Payne mentioned his older brother was generally known as a “quiet, well-behaved child.”
Rick Stone, retired chief naval historian a the Naval Historical past and Heritage Command, mentioned researchers discovered the names of the 13 sailors in deck logs, commanders’ studies and struggle diaries saved by the seven ships that recovered our bodies.
These ships gave sea burials to 91 recognized males, however for unknown causes the names of solely 40 of them had been reported by the army. One other 51 names weren’t. The 13 newly recognized come from this latter group. Stone mentioned researchers have open instances on the remaining 38 and have “good clues” for the identities of 5.
Stone suspects the names fell by way of bureaucratic cracks and had been by no means adopted up on.
It did not assist that the Navy introduced the lack of the ship on the identical day the struggle ended.
“The sinking of the Indy, which might have been entrance web page information per week earlier, was sort of relegated to one of many midsections of the newspaper,” he mentioned.
Researchers with Stone’s non-public basis started in search of the data in January 2021. Stone mentioned he began a file on the Indianapolis whereas working on the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Company and seeing hints that some sailors listed as lacking had truly been discovered.
“Giving their family members and their households some sort of closure — I imply frankly and in all sincerity — it’s the best reward I can think about,” Stone mentioned.
Stone’s group, Chief Rick Stone and Household Charitable Basis labored with the Naval Historical past and Heritage Command, the Navy Casualty Workplace, the USS Indianapolis Survivors Affiliation and the USS Indianapolis Legacy Group to seek out their names.
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