Louis P. Bitonti served on the USS Indianapolis as a Seaman 1st Class (S1). He is one of 1,195 who were assigned to the USS Indianapolis during World War II. The USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine on July 30, 1945. About 300 crew members went down with the ship. The rest of the 890 crew members faced exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning, and shark attacks while stranded in the open ocean with few lifeboats and almost no food or water. For the next four days 573 crew members succumbed to the horrid conditions of the ocean. Louis P. Bitonti S1 was one of the 317 survivors who were rescued on August 2, 1945.
