WESTMINSTER, Colo.—A Colorado man who survived one of the worst tragedies for the U.S. Navy in World War II is being honored at a suburban Denver memorial site.
An engraved brick honoring 86-year-old Paul Murphy of Broomfield will be placed in the Armed Forces Tribute Garden in Westminster on Thursday.
Murphy was one of only 317 men who survived the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, which had a crew of about 1,200. He’s believed to be the only survivor in Colorado.
The Indianapolis, a heavy cruiser, had just delivered components for the atomic bomb that would be dropped on Hiroshima when it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea on July 30, 1945.
The sea was infested with sharks and rescuers didn’t arrive for four days.
