Harold Bray, a World War II veteran and survivor of the USS Indianapolis sinking, turns 90 years old today. (Photo courtesy of Debbi Bray)

Harold Bray, a Benicia resident and World War II veteran known for being one of more than 300 people to survive the sinking of a Naval cruiser, is celebrating his 90th birthday today.

In 1944, Ironwood, Mich. native Bray enlisted in the Navy as a senior in high school. He began attending boot camp in Great Lakes, Ill. in January, 1945 and got out on April 12– incidentally, the same day that President Franklin Roosevelt died. He was assigned to the USS Indianapolis, a cruiser which was being repaired at Mare Island at the time following a recent suicide bombing in Okinawa. Bray was assigned to the ship’s repair division.

In July, Bray was part of a crew of 1,197 people assigned to carry a briefcase to Tinian Island, the contents of which were unknown to passengers at the time. On its return voyage, the Indianapolis was shot by two torpedoes from a Japanese submarine. The ship sunk, leaving hundreds of men stranded in the Pacific. For five days, they had to deal with circling sharks and growing dehydration, with some men even resorting to drinking the salt water that surrounded them.

“I had seen a lot of guys hurt pretty bad,” Bray told the Herald in 2010. “Of course, the sharks showed up. Anyone who was hurt pretty bad didn’t last very long.”

In regards to drinking the water, Bray abstained.

“I must have listened in boot camp,” he said.

The survivors had made efforts to gain the attention of planes flying overhead by shooting flares, but the pilots never noticed. Finally, Lt. Wilbur Gwinn on a bombing mission saw the oil slick overhead, descended and saved 317 men. Bray and the other shipmates received Purple Hearts. The package they delivered turned out to contain parts of the Little Boy, the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.

Following the war, Bray chose a Naval base in Detroit as his next duty station until he was honorably discharged in 1946. He moved to Washington State, but seeking a sunnier climate, decided to follow his sister to Benicia on Jan. 1, 1948. He initially worked in the Arsenal, then he was an officer with the Benicia Police Department for 23 years and finally at H. Bray Construction, a company started by his son, Harold Jr.

Bray continues to attend USS Indianapolis reunions, contributed to the book “317 Survived” and has numerously recounted his experiences to local high schoolers, most recently to Liberty High School’s student body earlier this year. He also keeps a lot of memorabilia, including a watch that stopped ticking shortly after the missiles struck the ship.

Bray told the Herald in 2010 that throughout the ordeal he never lost hope and continued to persevere despite the harrowing situation.

A further retelling of the experience can be found in the YouTube video “Harold Bray speaks about his experiences as a survivor of the U.S.S. Indianapolis.”

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