William Bruce Dezelske
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Navy
DEZELSKE, William Bruce
William Bruce Dezelske was born on August 17th 1920 to Reinhold August & Minnie Natalie [Holmstead] Dezelske in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
Mr. Dezelske enlisted in the U.S. Navy on
He was assigned to the USS Indianapolis on August 29th 1942.
The USS Indianapolis epic story is that In July of 1945 it is in San Francisco harbor being loaded with a mysterious cargo. The USS Indianapolis was on a top - secret mission of delivering parts of the "Little Boy" atomic bomb to the island of Tinian in the Pacific. On August 6th “Little Boy” is dropped over the City of Hiroshima, Japan ushering in the Atomic Age.
After offloading the Bomb in Tinian, the Indianapolis sailed to Guam and then to the Philippines but it was hit with two torpedoes on the night of July 30th and it sunk in 12 minutes. Of the crew of 1,196 onboard, 900 made it into the Pacific Ocean. Of the 900 who managed to get off the ship only 316 who survived shark infested waters for 5 days awaiting rescue. William Bruce Dezelske was one of those who managed to survive The mission was so to-secret that they were not reported overdue for a week. Only by chance does a Navy pilot notice hundreds of men bobbing in the water for 4+ days and radios for assistance.
It is the biggest disaster in U.S. Naval history although largely overshadowed by the very Bomb that they had just unloaded days before at Tinian.
MM2 Dezelske was honorably discharged on December 8th 1945. After the war he returned home and married Irene Lucille [Rafinski] on October 4th 1947 and they started a family.
Mr. Dezelske died on March 26th 1979 at the age of 58 years. He is buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Coleraine, Minnesota.
Source(s)
Albert J. Amatuzio Research Center | Veterans Memorial Hall (vets-hall.org)
Page 1 WWII Draft Registration Cards - Fold3
William B Dezelske (1920-1979) - Find a Grave Memorial
