Mixing History and Imagination
Only a few days ago, on August 20, 2017, the wreckage of the
USS Indianapolis, a cruiser sunk at
the end of World War Two, was located
on the floor of the North Pacific Ocean, 18,000 feet down.
That piece of
history brings new attention to the story I wrote in my novel Too Much Left Unsaid.
History has always fascinated me, but not the dates and wars
and memorization. I’m someone who wants to know about the real people whose
lives were changed by events of history. Often, they have no control over their
circumstances. Sometimes they do not even realize that events which will affect
them are taking place in the world. But I am a fiction writer, so as I research
the history, I make up the characters living the events.
I based the character of Mattie Connors in my first novel, Too Much Left Unsaid, on my husband’s
mother, Madge. Madge’s father really did die when she was six in the Spanish
influenza sweeping the world in 1918. Her widowed mother did take the younger
of two daughters to Texas and left Madge to be raised by an aunt and uncle. Madge
later eloped with her high school sweetheart, keeping the marriage secret until
graduation. Anything else you read about the characters in this novel I
imagined—fiction.
My other main character in Too Much Left Unsaid, Kathy Connors, is completely invented. But
the circumstances I used for her life story were historically based. Women like Kathy’s mother did die in
childbirth in 1918, and often left large families to be cared for by the oldest
sibling.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 precipitated
numerous marriages, and often brides were taken to unfamiliar hometowns to live
with their husband’s family to wait out the war. This was the circumstance I
used in my novel to explain Kathy’s marriage to Josh and her subsequent life.
In the interest of my story, I chose to portray Kathy as
widowed at the end of WWII. I asked a retired Navy man how Josh might have died
and he told me about the USS Indianapolis,
the last ship to be sunk by the Japanese at the close of the war. I did
research on the USS Indianapolis,
reading several books, web pages, and articles. As part of my research, I found
the front page of the New York Times
for August 15, 1945 declaring the end of the war. In the lower left corner of
that front page, the Times reported the sinking of the Indianapolis with 1196
service men aboard and the rescue of only 316 crewmen.
As I researched, I learned that the USS Indianapolis was being repaired at Mare Island, California, in
early 1945, after an earlier Japanese attack. I wrote that Kathy made a cross-country trip
by train from Ohio to spend a few days with Josh. The visit was shortened when
Josh’s leave was cancelled and the Indianapolis
was dispatched on its secret mission, the transfer of atomic bomb components to
Guam. Kathy and Josh suspended an argument about what Kathy’s role in postwar
America would be.
Soon after the Indianapolis
delivered its precious cargo, the first atomic bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima, Japan, August 6, 1945. A second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki
three days later. WWII ended within six days of two atomic bombs being dropped.
But the fate of the USS
Indianapolis after it dropped off its cargo was tragic. The ship continued
across the Pacific and was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, the last Navel casualty
of the war. There was so much going on at that moment that the U.S. Navy lost
track of the ship and did not even know it was missing. Consequently, the Navy was not looking for the
ship and the wreckage was only discovered by accident five days later. Some of
the crew died in the immediate impact of the torpedoes, but it has been
estimated that 800 sailors escaped into the ocean. 500 of them died during
those five days at sea, of dehydration, drowning or attack by sharks. Only 316
men survived.
I used the information I had found to imagine Josh Connors’
death, and his wife’s grief as she learned about it on the same day that
victory over Japan was declared. In this part of the story, Mattie Connors is
narrating. She was caring for Kathy’s son, Eddie, when she heard the news that
the war is over and hurried to find her sister-in-law.
August
14, 1945
In
Parkersville, the police and fire sirens pierced the air. Church bells rang
from every steeple. The war was over. Everyone was screaming, squealing,
shouting, whooping. Cheering crowds filled the downtown, waving flags,
hollering, blowing horns and whistles. Factory steam whistles blew louder, then
softer, then louder, for attention. Aaron and Mark [Mattie’s two boys} and their
grade school friends grabbed pots, pans, lids, and wooden spoons and marched up
and down the streets. They loaded Eddie, soon to turn three, into their Red
Flyer wagon and handed him a flag to wave. Firecrackers and shotguns added to
the din. I couldn’t wait to celebrate with Kathy, so I grabbed Eddie and hurried
down the street. No use trying to drive over. The streets were crowded with
tractors, cars, and revelers.
When
we arrived, Kathy was collapsed on her sofa, clutching a yellow envelope. Her
eyes were red with tears. Her always neat blonde hair was a complete mess. Her
breath came in gasps. I took one look and swallowed hard. ‘What does it say,
Kathy?’ I asked, not wanting to know. Kathy thrust the telegram in my hands
without a word. She sobbed and hugged her sides.
The Navy Department deeply
regrets to inform you that your husband, Joshua Herman Connors is missing in
action in the South Pacific.
The next day Kathy and Mattie see the front page of the New
York Times, the one I had read and copied. The main headlines are screaming
that the war is over, but in the lower right corner is the news of the Indianapolis:
Cruiser Sunk, 1196 Causalities
Took Atom Bomb Cargo to Guam
In a later chapter of my novel, I imagine that a buddy of
Josh’s who survived the disaster comes to visit Kathy in Ohio. As they talk,
more of the grim story of the torpedo strike and the stranded sailors is
revealed.
You can read the story of Kathy and Mattie in Too Much Left Unsaid available from B & N, Amazon, and other bookstores, in paperback or online editions.
