Analysis Of Quotes From The Book 'Left For Dead'

“Knowing how the men in the water died is not the same thing as knowing why they died” is a quote from the book Left for Dead. This novel is based on a very tragic story of the sinking and the deaths of the men aboard the U.S.S. Indianapolis. The men were abandoned out at sea for days with little supply and hope to live. There are many reasons why the men died as a result of the sinking but the question is why did they die?
In the novel it says many of the relatives or shipmates of the men lost during the sinking had a long list of things they wish would have happened to maybe prevent the sinking or save many of the men who lost lives during the sinking. The biggest regret was not having an escort.
If there would have been an escort for the
The enemy submarine may have never caught them. The mission that was in progress prevented them from having an escort. It was top secret and supposedly no one was supposed to know about it. The lack of an escort caused many problems, and many deaths.
There are many other “what ifs” about the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis. One of those many people ask themselves is, “What if she’d been equipped with sonar?” This meaning the ship could have detected the enemy submarine’s presence and could have taken evasive action. This might have saved the ship from the sinking or even the torpedo hits. Captain McVay had no idea of the submarine’s presence, nor did the crew of his ship. There was nothing that could have been done unless the ship was equipped with sonar. The weapons could have been ready to fire and possibly destroy the submarine. If only the crew knew so there could have been quicker evasive action taken to prevent it all.
In conclusion, many people may say it was Captain McVay’s fault that the ship was sunk and men had died. It’s said that he didn’t abandon ship on time, or that he wasn’t zigzagging.
The lives of 880 were taken, and only 317 survived. If only the ship had an escort they