Ed Harrell Interview

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ. Based on the theme in Galatians 2 verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, but we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

Interview Introduction and Ed Harrell's Book

Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth and I'm your host. We have a different format for each day of the week. And on this particular day, I like to talk to people who have written books that we can learn from, we can understand who Christ Jesus is, and today we have a special guest on the phone.

Ed Harrell has written a book called Out of the Depths with His Son, David, subtitled A Survivor's Story of the Sinking of the USS Indianapolis. Ed, welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry.

Well, it is a delight to be with you and with your radio audience today. Thank you, sir.

Conversion Before the USS Indianapolis Sinking

Ed, I read Doug Stanton's book about the USS Indianapolis and the sinking called In Harm's Way, and I was just fascinated to listen to Doug tell the story through his writing. But then when I read your book, it was completely different because here you are, a Christian man, undergoing this, and so your book, Out of the Depths, talks about your experience as a saved man.

Tell us how God saved you just before you got on the Indianapolis.

Well, actually, I was sworn in to the Marine Corps and they sent me home for a few days and I went to church on 1st of August, 1943, and I realized, knowing what was happening in the Pacific, that I wasn't prepared to meet my maker and I knew that there were many, many Marines by the hundreds and maybe even by the thousands that were giving their lives every day, and I knew that I had to get things right with God before I went into the Marine Corps, and so on the 1st of August, 1943, I gave my heart and life to Jesus Christ as my personal savior, and so as we get into my story today, then when I abandoned ship, I had every assurance that somehow, someway, that I'm gonna survive this ordeal, but certainly I had no idea that I was gonna be out there four and a half days from men with their sharks.

Ed, when I was reading your book, a very key point you said early on, I thought to myself, now I am ready for war because now I am ready for eternity. That's right, sir. Well, the USS Indianapolis, to let our listeners know, was a ship that was torpedoed by the Japanese Navy submarine, the I -58.

It sank in 12 minutes. Out of the 1 ,196 crewmen aboard, about 300 men went down with the ship. The rest of them, like you, Ed, faced exposure, dehydration, and a lot of shark attacks and other things.

Tell us what was going on in your mind when the ship was torpedoed.

Torpedo Impact, Abandon Ship, and Providence

Well, actually, I was sleeping topside out on the open deck under the barrels of number one turret, and the first torpedo cut about 40 feet or so of the bow off. When I say cut it off, it wasn't there.

And then the second torpedo back close to midship, and water coming in. In fact, the bow now was somewhat of a funnel. We're moving in the water about 17 knots, so all the bulkheads were breaking, and I knew that I had to make my way back midship somehow, some way, to my emergency station.

But going back there, I realized, I don't have a life jacket. My life jacket was down in my locker. And when I get to the quarter deck, then I see all those life jackets hanging, and I asked my Marine lieutenant permission to cut down those big bags of life jackets, and he said not until we get word to abandon ship.

And then suddenly there was a Navy commander coming from below deck, coming through the hatch, and I could see that flesh was hanging from his face and from his arms, and he did not have a life jacket.

And some sailor hollered out, get the commander a life jacket. And so they began to cut those down, and I managed to get me one. And then all communication is knocked out. So it took some time before the captain could get word down to everyone that we were to abandon ship.

And then when word came, everyone rushed from the quarter deck to the high side, the port side, to leave the ship. They get over to that rail and hold on to the rail, looking out into the blackness of the night.

This may be the end of life, but as I hung on to that rail, and as I poured out my heart to the Lord, I told him I don't want to die. Mom and dad back home, six younger brothers, older sister, younger sister, and a certain brunette that promised that she would wait for me.

And by the way, she waited, and we were married in 47, and we celebrate our 65th time together this July the 25th. Wow.

Well, Edwin, I'm reading your book, and it said, luck had absolutely nothing to do with my survival. I believe with all my heart that it was solely by the providence of God that I lived through those dreadful days and nights.

And it wasn't just even in the water. God providentially had you move out of your sleeping quarters up to the deck. That probably saved your life, didn't it?

No question, because most anyone below deck, and certainly down to the Marine compartment, that's where the second torpedo hit. And of course, the bottom half of the ship was flooded nearly instantly, and nearly no one could have made it up from there.

And of course, I was sleeping in the top side, but right between the two torpedoes. But I had covered up in my blanket, because I'm sleeping right out in the open, moving some 15 mile an hour, and it was breezy.

And so my blanket was over me, and then that first torpedo, all the water from that just soaked me good. So the second torpedo then, the flash from that, it singed my hair, it singed my eyebrows, but it did not do me much harm.

But others that were out in the horn, and of course, anyone, even in the upper area, inside, they were flash burned. And so I was protected there, yes.

Comfort, Testimony, and Psalm 139

Ed, before we get into a little bit more of the story, tell us how the Lord has been able to comfort you throughout these years, since the ship went down. I'm sure there are many men who have survived that have horrible nightmares, and who have some kind of stress, or maybe it's labeled as post-traumatic stress syndrome.

How has God been able to comfort you now with His presence, living with this memory?

Well, actually, when I came home, I couldn't tell the story, and didn't tell the story. It probably was a couple of years I tried to go to college. But finally, one Sunday afternoon, Dad's buddy insisted that I tell him something, and I finally got it off of my heart.

And since then, I've had a testimony to travel, and to tell the story, and especially when my book came out in 05. I've been in 27 states since then. I'm someplace, nearly every week, spoke Sunday night.

I've got three more venues this month. And my experience, to just look up to the Lord every day, and thank Him for what I endured, at His mercy and His grace, back during that particular time. 45 of us still living today.

I'm one of two Marines still living. I'm the only one, only Marine that's still on my feet.

Okay, sir? Yes. Well, we're talking to Ed Harrell, written the book called, Out of the Depths, A Survivor's Story of the Sinking of the USS Indianapolis. Oliver North has written the foreword. And we're talking to Ed about God in the water, God is sovereign over the land and the sea.

At the very beginning of your book, Ed, I really appreciated your quote from Psalm 139. "'Where can I go from thy spirit, "'or where can I flee from thy presence? "'If I ascend to heaven, thou art there.

"'If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there.'". And certainly, God was there in the water. When you jumped in the water,.

What went through your mind? Well, I wondered if I was gonna make it, but because I swam out to a little group of about 80, and several were injured, two other Marines with me, one had been blown against a bulkhead and broken bones, and he didn't make it to daybreak.

The other Marine had gone into the water headfirst. And of course, he's gonna have all that oil in his eyes. And then looking up at the hot sun in the daytime, all that salt water turns to powder, and so he's gonna have a struggle.

But I was in a group of 80. By the third day at noon, there are only 17 of us. Now, the first morning, after daybreak, the first day, we had company. When I say we had company, at any given time, you could look across and you could see a big fin swimming out of the water, and you knew that it was sharks.

And yet, they weren't going to attack us, it seemed, but it wasn't long until someone would be out, kind of by himself, a straggler thrashing around in the water, and you'd see that capon jacket go under, and then momentarily, like a fish cork, the capon jacket would bring the remains back to their surface, but you dared not to go and see who your buddy might be, because by now, all that blood, many, many sharks are coming around.

But sometime later, maybe you would check that particular body to find out that the bottom torso was gone, or maybe he was disemboweled. So that's gonna take place just many, many times, these four and a half days.

The second day, when you think that you're thirsty, and you're so thirsty that your tongue is swelling in your mouth, and you dare not drink some of the salt water, because you see some of your buddies that would dare to try to strain some of that salt water and drink it, and they'd say, oh, it's not too bad, it's fairly cool, 85 degrees.

But within the hour, you could begin to see what was taking place. They would just really go berserk. They really, we were in danger, even just to be around them, because they could think that you were a chap, they could think that you had a canteen of water in your capon jacket.

Maybe they would stab someone with their sheeting up, thinking that he had a canteen of water. So we had a struggle those days, but by the third day at noon, I say that there were only 17. And I might just go a step further from here and say that sometime that second day, when we were so thirsty, you know, we're desperate for water.

We've got to have water, because we're swimming in 110-degree weather, bareheaded, and your tongue is swollen, and then you're desperate for water, and you see a little rain cloud coming over, and you see it's raining, it's raining, and you pour out your heart to the Lord and pray for just a few drops of water, and you open your mouth, haven't we?

But how much can you catch in your open mouth? But you take your greasy hands and you somewhat funnel that water, and you get a few tablespoons full of water. And now the third day at noon, when there was only 17 of us, there was time to pray again, because we know that we can't make it.

Our kapok jackets are giving out. Now we're having to take our kapok jackets off, and we're sitting in them. And by sitting in them, we still have to keep swimming, swimming just to keep the kapok, well, picture in the water.

And so we're praying, and I remember one old boy praying, he said, God, if you're out there, we don't want to die. I don't want to die. I've got a son back home that I've never seen. And it would be prayers of that kind.

And yet there were those that seemingly knew, and we prayed. Well, after that little season of prayers, and we saw what appeared to be a little makeshift of a raft, and we thought, now, who could that be?

And they got close enough that we could holler out at them, and they responded to us. And in English, we knew it had to be our buddies. But as they came into our group, we could see that there was no one on the raft.

And we thought, that is odd, five sailors around a little makeshift of a raft, consisting of two 40-millimeter ammunition cans. But what was on that raft was kapok life jackets that they'd taken off of boys that already expired.

They'd squeezed them out, and now they become a little more of a flotation device. And we were able to exchange our kapok jackets. They wanted to know if anyone wanted to swim to the Philippines with them.

We knew that we had to get close enough that someone maybe could spot us. We didn't realize that it's another 500 mile. But I say to my buddy, Spooner, Spooner, I'm gonna go with him. And he said, Harold, if you go, I'm gonna go too.

So two Marines joined five sailors. We're gonna swim to the Philippines we think. And sometime later than that afternoon, we came up on a swell, and I could look off to the starboard, and I could see something that appeared to be just an old crate or some debris out there.

But that was a compelling influence saying, go and see what that might be. And I told my buddies, I'm gonna swim out and get that, see what it is. They thought maybe the sharks would get me if I did, but I said, you know, it's hell to go and see what that might be.

Well, as I swam out to that debris, it was an old potato in it. I grabbed a hold of that first potato, but kind of in the agony of defeat, that potato, the rot squeezed between my fingers, and I felt all my rotten potatoes, hands and peeled a lot of that rot off and then with my T-rod, and I was able to get just the potatoes.

And then I began to think like the ant, I may be out here another day. And as I began to swim back to my buddies, well, a potato and they, hotter potatoes, but they came out and joined me for us. All right, Ed, thank you.

Rotten Potatoes, Survival, and the Lord's Provision

We're talking to Eddie Harrell. He's a survivor of the USS Indianapolis, a man who's been saved by the sovereign grace of God. If you'd like to order the book, you can go to the website, www .indiesurvivor .com.

Indiesurvivor .com, you can read testimonials there. You can read Oliver North's introduction and foreword, a great site to go to, indiesurvivor .com. Ed, I was reading your book and it said regarding that potato issue that you were praying, Lord, please let there be food in this crate.

Please provide, you alone are our hope. I'm sure the Lord really used those rotten potatoes to encourage you that he knew you and that he wouldn't forsake you. Amen, sir. Well, let's talk a little bit about something that afterwards, certainly with the anger of the Japanese attacking America and the anger of the loss of life, even with some of your buddies in the water, of course.

How has the Lord dealt with you since then, Ed, regarding Japanese people and how Christ has died for Japanese people as well? I'm sure some people hate Japanese folks after what they've done to them in the war.

What do you think about Japanese people now in light of the gospel and what God has done in your heart?

Forgiveness, Japanese Survivors, and the Gospel

Meet Commander Hoshimoto. One of my Marine buddies went to Hawaii and met him and they shook hands and saying to each other, you know, war is over, we have to go on. But then sometime later, a couple from Southern Illinois University came to our reunion and we wondered who could these people be?

They looked to be, you know, Japanese. Well, lo and behold, Commander Hoshimoto had gone home after the war and all of his family was wiped out at Hiroshima, all of his blood relatives. And he remarried and now he has another family.

Now he had married a Korean and here they are at our reunion and they have a youngster. And then to see that little youngster, the great-granddaughter of Hoshimoto, and a married, caring Hoshimoto's great-granddaughter around, we welcome their forgives.

And yes, they were our former, the Lord loves them likewise. And there is one hope for anyone and that is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as their own personal savior because he gave his life as a ransom for each one that would but believe in the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross.

Ed, it's great to hear you say that. I'm very thankful that the Lord has used this trial in your life, this very traumatic experience to open doors for you to preach the gospel. Isn't the Lord good to do that?

He is very good. In your book, it says in the Navy hymn, eternal father strong to save, whose arm hath bound the restless wave, who bid us the mighty ocean deep, its own appointed limits keep. Oh, hear us when we cry to thee for those in peril on the sea.

Ed, what goes through your mind when that song is sung?

Scripture, Prayer, and the Navy Hymn in the Water

The 23rd Psalm, while we were out in the water, you know, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, and so on. And we would say it, oh, and then we'd say it again, the Lord is my shepherd. He maketh me to lie down in the green pastures and so on.

We would just say that in those various ways of how it applies to each one of our hearts. And then we'd say the Lord's prayer, say the Lord's prayer, or maybe the 23rd Psalm, and take a cape on jacket off of a buddy and commit him to the sea, wondering, you know, is he in eternity with God, and hope and pray that he knew the Lord Jesus, saying, says, I hear that, a particular song of the Marine Corps, too.

Ed, I noticed in your book that you were talking about Psalm 23, that the spirit of God, you said, would help me think of scripture while I was in the water. Did you have any other verses go through your mind when you were there in the water?

The number, but anything that I could think of, I would say it and speak it as if I'm speaking to the Lord, and knowing that somehow, some way that he's hearing, and then, yes, so many, many.

Ed, I'm sorry to interrupt you. When I was reading Doug Stanton's book, In Harm's Way, he said that a lot of the men who had officers around them in the water, they didn't drink the water because the officer said, don't drink it, but people who are stragglers and by themselves, they just drank the water.

Is that true, and to what degree?

Well, by the third day at noon, there was no officers with us, but, you know, when you are so desperate for water, it's nearly easier to give up than it is to fight, and there were those that would give up.

Being the case, and you see a little salt water, and he thinks that it's great, and you're tempted to do so, but somehow, some way, I never did, and yet, there's times when maybe you're swimming, and a swell would break off to keep from getting strangled and drinking, you know, a swallow or two of salt water, but you did your best not to allow that, so I tore off some of my clothing just to put over my face to keep me from drinking some of the salt water.

I had been told, don't drink salt.

We're talking to Ed Harrell today in his book, Out of the Depths. I'd encourage our listening audience to get it, and you will find God working providentially to not only create a man, that is to say, Ed was born, and then grant him eternal life through the risen Savior Christ, then grant him sustaining grace to keep him alive.

Ed, you're no different than some of those other boys who swam over and tried to attack the sharks like Tarzan, but it was God who made the difference in your life. No question about that. Well, we've been talking to Ed Harrell again today, survivor of the USS Indianapolis, and I'd encourage our listeners to go to indysurvivor .com, indysurvivor .com, and you can order a book, and I think you'd be encouraged.

And the same God who has protected Ed throughout all these years is the same God who protects you. And if you're in Christ Jesus, he is your Lord and Savior, and he will not forsake you to the very end.

Ed Harrell, thanks for being on No Compromise Radio.

I might say that I sign every book before I send them out to Mike.

Thank you very much. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible-teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God's Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at six. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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