New Book Heroes in the Shadows: The Untold Story of the African-American Sailors Aboard USS Indianapolis (CA-35)

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Episode #796 of Hometown Heroes, airing July 29 – August 3, 2023, marks the 78th anniversary of the sinking of the cruiser USS Indianapolis by highlighting the new book Heroes in the Shadows: The Untold Story of the African-American Sailors Aboard USS Indianapolis (CA-35).

Click the image to order the new book Heroes in the Shadows.

You’ll hear from five women who collaborated in producing the new book, as well as the chairman of the USS Indianapolis Legacy Organization, Captain William Toti, USN (Ret). To learn even more about the book and hear more from voices captured in this episode, click here to watch video of the memorial ceremony that concluded the 2023 USS Indianapolis Reunion in Benicia, CA, from the organization’s facebook feed.

Joining the authors for a special Benicia book signing was the last living survivor of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, Harold Bray.

“The book is significant because the story has never been told,” you’ll hear from author Jane Gwinn Goodall, whose father was the rescue pilot who spotted the oil slick left behind by the sunken ship. “We still don’t know what really happened to them. Most people think that all of them perished on impact. That’s not true.”

You’ll hear about the origins of the project, and how an effort to put a face to each one of the 1,195 names on the Indy’s final crew roster led to the discovery that 28 of those 1,195 were African-American sailors, limited to menial responsibilities on the ship because of the Armed Forces’ segregated status during World War II.

Henry Jackson, Albert Rice, and Magellan Williams all lost their lives in the USS Indianapolis tragedy. Members of their Gold Star families contributed to the new book.

With help from Sara Vladic, whose heralded documentary film and subsequent book have added greatly to the depth of knowledge about the Indy’s final moments, Jane Gwinn Goodall connected with families of those fallen sailors of color, forming a committee dedicated to bringing a more complete picture of their service into focus. After two-and-a-half years of research and collaboration, Heroes in the Shadows is the end result. Photos, official documents, and details only discovered through family memories combine with broader themes to present a powerful mosaic bringing these forgotten heroes’ legacies to life. In 1995, Lee Roy Pitts attended the USS Indianapolis Reunion in honor of his late brother, Albert Rice. He urged those in attendance to include the history of sailors of color like his brother when telling the story of July 30, 1945 and the tragic days that followed. Pitts was just 13 years old when his brother made the ultimate sacrifice. Nearly three decades later, the Korean War Air Force veteran, now 91, was presented the book by his daughter, part of the group that contributed to its publication.

“It is most significant that this happened in my father’s lifetime,” you’ll hear Dr. Jeanette Pitts share. “This opens a small window and it is our hope that people will take it from here, and minds and hearts will continue to be opened.”

Ernestine Peete speaking at the 2023 USS Indianapolis Reunion’s memorial ceremony.

When Magellan Williams embarked upon the final voyage of the USS Indianapolis, he left behind a pregnant fiancee. You can imagine the heartache his tragic death caused for the family with which he grew up, as well as the family with whom he hoped to grow old. Ernestine Peete, an Air Force veteran, learned about her uncle Magellan’s story from her father, who followed his older brother into the Navy at the tail end of World War II. Peete saw first hand how devastating her uncle’s loss was to the family, but believes that making stories like his known to all can foster unity.

“It hurts, it’s sad, there are tears, I cry,” you’ll hear Peete say of her uncle’s sacrifice. “We’re all family, we’re all human, we’re all one. We have to fight for our country, and love each other.”

Janice Alston remembers her Aunt, Arlene Taylor, telling her that their relative Henry Jackson had lost his life in the Indianapolis tragedy. But when Alston tried to look up information about the ship, she never came across any references to the contributions of African-American sailors. She even encountered people who questioned the veracity of the family’s claimed connection.

“Once we found these records, it became more believable, it brought them more to life,” you’ll hear Alston explain. “It made it exciting that I was part of unraveling this piece of history, and hopefully it will inspire others to do the same with other stories.”

A critical connection point in the committee’s progress in assembling the book was a photo of Henry Jackson that Arlene Taylor had sent to the Naval Museum in Washington, D.C. When Jane Gwinn Goodall came across the photo in the museum’s collection, she reached out to Taylor, and the project really picked up steam. Taylor, a retired educator, says the book is “the fulfillment to my mon’s memory,” explaining that even on her deathbed, her mother was still wondering what had happened to her older brother.

“He needs to be recognized. He needs to be acknowledged. He was a hero,” Taylor says of her uncle, Henry Jackson. “The book now will present not only my uncle, but 27 other men who were kind of erased from history.”

The authors of Heroes in the Shadows at their book signing in Benicia, CA. L-R: Jane Gwinn Goodall, Dr. Jeanette Pitts, Ernestine Pitts, Arlene Taylor, and Janice Alston

The final voice you’ll hear in this episode is that of William Toti, USN (Ret), chairman of the USS Indianapolis Legacy organization, whose myriad efforts in preserving and clarifying history include a thorough collection of myth-busting videos online. Toti delineates the connection between the common fate of all 28 sailors of color aboard the ship and the discriminatory policies at the time that separated African-American and Filipino sailors from the rest of their shipmates.

“They were all kind of categorized together and given very limited opportunities to serve on Navy ships,” you’ll hear Toti relate. “They suffered this horrible fate because of where they were berthed when the ship was torpedoed.”

The book features a chapter on Pearl Harbor hero Dorie Miller.

Heroes in the Shadows also features a chapter on World War II’s most highly decorated African-American sailor, Dorie Miller. Miller was famously awarded the Navy Cross for his heroics aboard the battleship USS West Virginia during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Six days later, on December 13th, 1941, he was transferred from his heavily damaged battleship to a cruiser: the USS Indianapolis. In fact, he was still a member of the Indy’s crew when Admiral Chester Nimitz pinned the Navy Cross on his uniform. By the time Miller was killed in action in November 1943 while serving aboard the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay, his was a household name across the country. His 28 fellow Gold Star heroes who perished in the USS Indianapolis catastrophe, in contrast, have been relegated to the shadows of history for 78 years. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the women you’ll hear from on this episode, those heroes are in the shadows no longer.
—Paul Loeffler

Previous episodes about the USS Indianapolis story:
Episode #791, 6/24/2023: Statue to Honor Ship’s Last Survivor
Episode #639, 7/30/2020: 75 Years Later, USS Indianapolis Survivor Remembers
Episode #486, 8/25/2017: Ship Found, Memories Stirred
Episode #377, 7/25/2015: 70th Anniversary of Indianapolis Tragedy
Episode #124, 7/24/2010: USS Indianapolis Survivor’s Story
Episode #81, 8/1/2009: Marine Unloaded Secret Cargo