Customer Reviews

Left for Dead

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Captain Charles Butler McVay, skipper of the USS Indianapolis, was court-martialed after the tragic sinking of his ship on July 30, 1945. Despite the objections from Admiral Nimitz, Admiral Ernest J. King, chief of U.S. Naval Operations, insisted that the court martial proceed. What occurred was one of the most incredible cases of injustice in U.S. Naval history. McVay was convicted for failure to steer in a zigzag pattern. This manuver is supposed to make a ship more difficult to hit in case of a torpedo attack, although this theory was completely disproved during the trial. The Japanese captain of the submarine which sunk the Indy was brought in to testify against McVay. It was his opinion that he still would have sunk the Indy regardless of the zigzagging. Another charge of failing to order abandon ship in a timely fashion was overturned. The survivors of the Indianapolis always felt that their captain was used as a scapegoat by the Navy to cover up their own mistakes, and they have spent years trying to clear their beloved captain's name.

In 1996, a young boy named Hunter Scott was watching the movie Jaws. One of the characters in the film portrayed a survivor from the Indianapolis. After seeing the film, Hunter became more interested in the story of the Indy. He used its story as a theme for a history project he was working on. This 11-year old boy did the unthinkable. He made it his goal to clear McVay's name. He sent out numerous questionnaires to survivors and conducted personal interviews as well. Newspapers picked up on Hunter's crusade and soon the whole country was aware of his efforts. Appearances followed on Late Night with David Letterman as well as trips to Capitol Hill to lobby members of Congress. A meeting with the Senate Armed Services Committee took place on September 14, 1999. Hunter, with the help of Senator Bob Smith, told the tale of the Indianapolis and her survivors to the committee. By the time they were finished, they had swayed Senator John Warner, chairman of the committee. He now felt that McVay should be exonerated. The Senate resolution passed in October of 2000, but on July 11, 2001, Hunter received the news that McVay had been exonerated.

Author Pete Nelson does a fine job of telling the story of the Indianapolis, her sinking, the struggle for survival, and the exoneration. I've read numerous books about the saga of the Indianapolis, but this is the first one I've read that explains the efforts of Hunter Scott. This is a truly moving book. We are lucky to have people such as Hunter Scott, who sacrificed so much for a person he never even met.

In my experience as a children's librarian, when a kid comes up to me looking for information about the navy (and trust me, it happens) I usually end up throwing them headlong into the appropriate section of non-fiction books with the hope that follow-up questions will not be forthcoming. Needless to say, I don't know much about the navy. Fortunately, I've just read a navy-rific book that I may definitely recommend to little navy lovers everywhere (and, interestingly enough, navy haters too). "Left For Dead", has everything a good non-fiction story should. Action, adventure, shark infested waters, and a young optimistic hero who wins in the end. Though certain elements of this book rankled me at the most inappropriate of times, I have enough sense to see that in spite of its flaws, "Left For Dead", is an excellent encapsulation of how sometimes one boy can change history itself.

If you're like the hero of this story, eleven-year-old Hunter Scott, then you probably learned about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis as he did through the movie "Jaws". Remember that scene where Robert Shaw's talking with Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider about how he once served on that ship? Remember how he describes the sharks eating the men after their ship sank and that it took some five days to be rescued? Well after seeing that scene Hunter knew he'd found the perfect history fair project. Trouble was, the history books seemed to have obscured knowledge of the Indianapolis and its unlucky crew. So Hunter set about contacting the survivors and talking to them. As he did, one thing became incredibly clear to him. Many of the survivors were convinced that their captain, one Mr. Charles Butler McVay III, was wrongfully court-martialed for the sinking of the ship. Suddenly Hunter's involved in a quest that will take him to the halls of Washington, the sets of television shows, and into the public eye in general. He becomes the Indianpolis crews' last hope to restore dignity to the man they all respected. The only question is, can one kid really take on the Navy and make them apologize?

Author Pete Nelson is at his best when he's recounting the days of the Indianapolis and the events that led to its sinking. These passages are gripping and tight with tension. He opens with a man's experiences as he escapes the sinking vessel and has to contend with oil-filled seas, a fellow sailor who cannot swim, and most horrific of all, sharks. Then he flashes forward to Hunter interviewing the former crewmembers. Then it's back to the past, with insights into many different survivors' personal stories. Nelson looses some of this wonderful writing excitement when he tells Hunter's contemporary quest, but the book's still interesting. Hopefully the teens reading it won't mind long court sequences and Senatorial rigamarole. Nelson also has an odd tendancy to dissolve into funny descriptive sentences. For example, note the sentence, "...injustice is like the shadow cast by wrong - shine enough light on a shadow and it goes away". Or, more bizarrely, his comparison of moving a bill through Congress to Myst or Dungeons and Dragons. And the author is a fan of getting a little too wrapped up in the story he's trying to tell. Personally (and this is probably just my problem, so don't assume you'll object to this) I found the politics in this book grating. Yes, I'm happy that Senator Joe Scarborough moved Hunter's history project to his Pensacola office (thereby lending it much needed publicity). But I feel a deep moral repugnance towards Joe Scarborough so mentions of him, Newt Gingrich, and other politicians, with whom I have what can only be politely described as an abhorrence, hurt to read. Fortunately, Nelson doesn't linger on them (though the fact that Hunter describes himself in the book's preface as the president of his school's Young Republicans club gave me pause right from the get-go).

Still, Nelson has his fair share of wherewithal and canniness. He gives equal honor and appreciation to the tale told by Mochitsura Hashimoto (the man who sank the Indianapolis in the first place) as he does the Indianapolis's crew. And to me, his respect of Hashimoto is the ultimate display of the absurdity of war. Here we have good men that, in the course of WWII, killed one another. Nelson's strength lies in his equal respect of both sides during the conflict and his acknowledgement that both the Japanese and the American committed atrocities. Finally, the book simultaneously supports the Navy and condemns it for its intractability years after it made a mistake of count-martialing McVay. It's a delicate juggling act that Nelson passes off without too many lost balls.

Most non-fiction retellings of tragic or inspiring events try to simply display the facts of a matter without too much meddling. If you decide to read "Left For Dead", (85% is thrilling reading too), be prepared for a lot of Christian references and a distinct mindset of its own. Also be prepared for a truly heartwarming story about a boy and the men he set out to fight for. The book's a little didactic a little too often, but it tells a tale that desperately needed to be heard. With ample pictures, a wonderful bibliography, an index, and more facts than you can swing a hammer at, this book is factual and written well. You may not agree with everything it says, but you'll have a hard time not respecting its story and the heroes in it.

This book is a very exciting journey. It kept me wanting to read on. I really felt as if I were a part of the adventure of the combat. It was a great thriller and at the same time a great lesson in history. It is a war time classic. Any one who enjoys an action war thriller or a good non-fiction book would absolutely love to read this. I have a hard time reading but found this kept my interest. I do have to say that the book starts out a bit slow, but towards the middle it speeds up into a fast pace adventure of the Japenese sending a torpedo into the front of a ship. Amercian soldiers were stranded in the middle of nowhere. I would say that my favorite part of this book is how they get themselves into more danger as they try to work their way back home. The days they are stranded are full of death, mysteries, murders and cannibalism. The only negative part of this book I can think of would be that it is very full of graphic images of death, sharks shredding apart bodies and the suffering of those waiting to die.
This book was just over 200 pages with large font. Easy reading and a great book for adults and teens. I would not recommend this book to a younger child for it's graphic contents. I think that because of the war that is going on in Iraq right now that it made this book more interesting and more real to me. It also made me think about how horrible war is.
I think of how aweful it probably is out there for all those people fighting. So do yourself a favor and order this book online today. You won't be sorry.

Ben Olejniczak
English 9 PIB
4-22-06
Rosie Book Review

"A Simple Review of Injustice"

The novel, Left For Dead by Pete Nelson and Hunter Scott, is quite an interesting piece of work. The book is about the story of the USS Indianapolis disaster, possibly the worst the Navy has ever seen. The story is centered around the injustice that was directed towards the ship's captain. Captain McVay was court marshaled because of his so-called inability to get out of the situation the USS Indianapolis faced. Hunter Scott, a boy who saw the movie, Jaws, became skeptical. He went on a journey to prove that Captain McVay was innocent. Does Scott prove that McVay is in fact innocent? Or does his efforts fail him? Read this novel and the ending will astonish even the worst skeptics.
Quotes in Left for Dead show the reader that this book is worth reading. First, in the Preface, Hunter Scott says, "I am trying to honor a group of veterans to whom honor is everything." Hunter says here that he is going to great heights as well as disadvantages to fight for Captain McVay. Hunter has a mission and nothing is going to stop him from doing what he thinks is right. He is trying to make up for all the sacrifices those men faced in order for our freedom to be in stone forever. Suspense is prominent in this novel. Here, before chapter seven, a quote from Herman Melville, a man from Moby Dick, is stated. It reads, "Any man unaccustomed to such sights, to have looked over her side that night, would have almost thought the whole round sea was one huge cheese, and those sharks the maggots in it." Here, foreshadowing of the accident is given. This is important because it gives a sense of suspense to the reader. The horrific disaster is shown in a nutshell from this little quote. Toward the end of Left For Dead, Pete Nelson writes, "Three hundred and seventeen survived the sinking of the Indianapolis, which meant that there were 317 different stories to be told afterward." Pete Nelson is saying here that this story is a classic. All of the survivors would not have stories to tell if it was not an experience of a lifetime. Just another reason to read Left for Dead.
Left For Dead has its ups and downs. I really enjoyed the history behind the USS Indianapolis. I learned many new things from this novel and there is plenty of knowledge to share! Also, I love how Pete Nelson implemented a story theme to the novel. It was not just a documentary; it was a story that included documentary material. However, there were some downsides to this novel. I did not like the fact that it jumped around from story to information often. It would have been better if the novel would have one way or another; either all storyline or either all documentary. As you can see, Left For Dead is a great novel and I would recommend it to anyone if they are interested in history regarding the Navy or even American history.

The USS Indianapolis. If this name doesn't sound familiar to you...then you might want to consider reading Left for Dead.
Left for Dead is a Book based on a true story about Hunter Scott, a Florida Schoolboy who did a History Fair project on the USS Indianapolis. This doesn't really sound significant at first, but the book tells you the history of the ship.
The ship was piloted by Captain Charles Mcvay III. It was a cruiser ship, and one of the fastest in the navy. The Ship was always considered lucky, until it was severely damaged by a kamikaze plane. The ship luck ran out, it got torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sank. The captain was court-martialed (brought to military court) and he was the one held responsible for the ship sinking.
There were quite a few injustices. It was not the captain's fault the ship sunk, and the navy ignored the SOS signal. The navy also even had the audacity to bring in the sub captain that sank the ship, and purposely translated incorrectly what he said to defend the navy.
Hunter Scott then found out all about this. His project got National attention and him along with the survivors cleared Mcvay's good name.
That is only a very brief summary of the book. The book has lots of neat things in it that kept my attention while I read this incredible story. It gave explicit detail of the sinking, trials etc. Form some of the survivors' points of view. In the book was also the story of how and why Hunter Scott chose the Indianapolis as his History Fair project. The book also has some pages (about 20) of Hunter Scott with the survivors with the survivors, pictures of the survivors during WWII, a picture of the Japanese submarine captain, a map of the area near where it sunk and even a picture of the ship.
History isn't the only thing in this book that caught my eye. There was a lot of interesting scientific information that really wowed me (this is coming from a kid not too interested in science.) All sorts of stuff was in the book about trauma, the nervous system and psychic injury. It was very interesting stuff, and it explained to me a lot of things about flashbacks. The Stuff about the dreams relating to reality fascinated me to. These along with other scientific facts explained why the sailors had flashbacks and bad dreams about the sinking, there was also some very interesting stuff about how things like Sun damage and exposure killed sailors who weren't killed by sharks.
This book incorporated all of this stuff and makes it Interesting and entertaining. If I read about stuff like this in a history textbook, or if it were like stuff you'd find in a history book, I would probably be so bored to death I'd fall asleep and when I woke up I'd want to burn it. The science stuff was also made very interesting as well, and was also explained in a way that didn't boggle my mind or keep me up all night with my eyes wide open trying to figure out what all of it meant. I know I'm only 14, but I know unless you are a scientist any adult would get confused if the scientific knowledge wasn't explained the way it was.
This is a great book. Pick it up and start reading it.

This book, packed with action, history, and knowledge, is a really fun read. Many aspects of this book excited me. One aspect was it was a true story. This book is not only a detailed account of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis on July 30, 1945 from many different people and perspectives, but it also shows you why and how the ship sunk. The events of the minutes, hours, and days after the sinking are very vivid and detailed, primarily because the book was founded from interviews with survivors. This created a 1st hand look at the sinking, and shed light on things that would have otherwise been lost in history. The amazing survival stories of the stranded sailors left for weeks on the ocean, attacked by sharks, fighting off starvation, and succumbing to insanity, just raises your awareness about how dangerous war really was, even back then. This is a key fact about this book that makes it so good. The next part of the book deals with the aftermath of the sinking, including the controversial court-martial of the Captain of the USS Indianapolis (Captain Charles Butler McVay). This section sheds light on the facts about the court-martial, and the opinions of many historians, veterans, and survivors of the USS Indianapolis. After reading both sides of the argument, you might be surprised at the evidence that you find when reading this book. I know by the time I was done with the book, my opinion about the trail defiantly changed. The end of this book, interestingly enough, focuses on an eleven year old kid name Hunter Scott. As the book rapidly jumps to the 1940's to the 1990's, the author tells about the heroic efforts of sixth grader Hunter Scott to clear Captain McVay's name of blame for the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. Although McVay had commited suicide more than 30 years ago, many survivers of the Indianapolis are still outraged that McVay was blamed with the sinking. Many of them tried to fight to clear his name in the past, but it ultimately came down to an sixth grader. At the end, it tells of the success of Hunter Scott in convincing the government to reopen the trial and review that facts again. By the end of the book, and currently in the National Archives, McVay was clear of any blame for the loss of his ship.
Overall, this book is an excellent read. It keeps your eyes glued to the page wondering what will happen next, even though it already happened in history.

Left for Dead was the best historical book I have ever read. Men aboard the U.S.S Indionapolis died in numbers for many days. 350 men survived a wreck of an enemy sub's torpedo out of 1400. Men were starneded in the middle of the Ocean for days. The U.S. Navy found them after 5 days and needed to blame this devastation on somebody. They chose the captain, Captain McVay of the Indy. The surviving crew tried to clear his name from his court-martial but never got through th Navy. They know it's not their captain's fault. A boy comes along named Hunter Scott. Would a boy be able to clear McVay's name? Will His history fair project lead a wrong in Navy history to a right? This is a book that you'll read for hours at night without puting it down about the men's history aboard the Indy and Hunter Scott's epic tale of how he cleared McVay's name.

This book is a very exciting journey. It kept me wanting to read on. I really felt as if I were a part of the adventure of the combat. It was a great thriller and at the same time a great lesson in history. It is a war time classic. Any one who enjoys an action war thriller or a good non-fiction book would absolutely love to read this. I have a hard time reading but found this kept my interest. I do have to say that the book starts out a bit slow, but towards the middle it speeds up into a fast pace adventure of the Japenese sending a torpedo into the front of a ship. Amercian soldiers were stranded in the middle of nowhere. I would say that my favorite part of this book is how they get themselves into more danger as they try to work their way back home. The days they are stranded are full of death, mysteries, murders and cannibalism. ...
This book was just over 200 pages with large font. Easy reading and a great book for adults and teens. I would not recommend this book to a younger child for it's graphic contents. I think that because of the war that is going on in Iraq right now that it made this book more interesting and more real to me. It also made me think about how horrible war is.
I think of how aweful it probably is out there for all those people fighting. So do yourself a favor and order this book online today. You won't be sorry.

I started reading this book as a project example for students. I couldn't put it down - and I normally do not read non-fiction. I found this book inspriring not only for the patriotism of the men of the USS Indianapolis but also for the fortitude and courage of a young boy to see his project through. In a time of waning interest in community service among teens, I think this book is a momentous motivational tool for students. It illustrates that, yes, "kids" have power and, yes, dreams come true and goals are attainable. I think this is a must read for students who need motivation or encouragement through tough times. Also, the story of the Indianapolis is important because many students do not have grandfathers or uncles to share the experiences of war with them. It teaches lessons such as loyalty, patriotism, justice, faith and perserverence in the face of adversity. These are lessons beneficial to today's young people.

I came across this book when looking for something for 6th graders to read. It looked exciting, and has the added interest of being motivated by a 6th grader's history fair project. The book itself hops back and forth between an "as if you were there" accounting of the events that led to and the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, and the story of Hunter Scott's efforts to have Captain McVay's name cleared. For me, it really worked. The parts from the past were riveting, as the men endured five horrible days in and on the sea. The parts from the present (fewer in length and number) also kept me interested. The map and photographs added a lot to my reading experiece as well. I think this would be a great choice for a teen reader looking for something substantial but exciting.