Adolfo V. Celaya was born in Florence, Arizona in May 1927. He had one brother and two sisters. Celaya was the oldest sibling. His family was poor. His father worked for the WPA which started in the 1930s [Annotator's Note: the Works Progress Administration was a federally sponsored program that put unemployed Americans to work during the Great Depression]. Celaya and his mother picked cotton until he was 12 years of age when his parents separated. She moved to San Jose, California with the other children except Celaya who stayed with his father. Celaya lived with his father in Tucson [Annotator’s Note: Tucson, Arizona] for quite a few years. Celaya worked at various jobs during that time. At 16 years of age, he went to work for Convair Aircraft. He was a mechanic’s helper on airplane construction. He filled a job opening created by men being drafted into the service. He learned his work on the job. B-17s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] and B-24s [Annotator's Note: Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber] were being built in the Convair plant in Tucson. Most of his work involved riveting. He was in Florence when Pearl Harbor was bombed [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He moved back with his dad shortly afterward. He heard the news about Pearl Harbor over the radio. Many people volunteered for the Navy in Florence. He was 13 or 14 years of age at the time. The attack was not a big deal to him until after he joined the service. He was reluctant at first to enlist, but did so at 17 years of age in August 1944.

Adolfo V. Celaya went to boot camp in San Diego [Annotator’s Note: San Diego, California]. The training was difficult for him because of his limited education. He had attended school only until the eighth grade. He did learn to enjoy it. He stayed with his buddy during boot camp, but they were separated afterward. While in training, he attended fireman school where he learned to read fire room oil gauges for the boilers. He later always had a water tender with him. The Indianapolis [Annotator’s Note: USS Indianapolis (CA-35)] would become the only ship Celaya would be assigned to. From school, he was sent to Camp Shoemaker near San Francisco [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California] for post-training assignment. He was selected to board the Indianapolis which was berthed at nearby Mare Island. The sight of the ship was amazing to him. It was surprising something that large and made of steel could float. He slept in a bunk. His division was made up of hundreds of men. He knew no one, so it was hard at the time for a Mexican-American boy. He was surprised at the name calling aimed his way. His crew chief was from Massachusetts with another from Pittsburgh [Annotator’s Note: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]. Only one of them survived the sinking, but he perished after three days in the water. He swam off by himself and was lost. Most of Celaya’s fellow crewmen were down below and could not reach safety during the loss of the ship. From Mare Island, the ship voyaged to San Diego to take on more sailors. It was close to New Years Day. One of the new men was from Tucson [Annotator’s Note: Celaya had lived in Tucson, Arizona]. The two men became friends. Celaya enjoyed teaching many of the crew to speak Spanish. The next port of call was Pearl Harbor [Annotator’s Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] for a few days, and then on to the Aleutian Islands [Annotator’s Note: in the northern Pacific Ocean, today part of Alaska]. The ship joined a task force to bomb Japan. There were aircraft carriers, battleships, heavy cruisers, and destroyers. The main role of the Indianapolis was to protect the aircraft carriers from kamikazes. It was a successful mission with no aircraft lost. The Japanese were caught by surprise so no enemy aircraft met the task force.

Adolfo V. Celaya reached Iwo Jima [Annotator’s Note: aboard the USS Indianapolis (CA-35)]. The ship bombarded the island for quite a few days. It was the flagship of Admiral Spruance [Annotator’s Note: Admiral Raymond Spruance]. When the Admiral needed sleep, the ship would depart the zone near other ships firing on the island. The Indianapolis would return in the morning to continue firing on Iwo Jima. Celaya had the opportunity to witness the flag raising on the island [Annotator’s Note: on Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi, 23 February 1945]. He observed the event through binoculars. He saw the Iwo Jima Memorial [Annotator’s Note: at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia] when he attended the presidential inauguration [Annotator’s Note: he does not mention which specific inauguration]. He could not tell if the flag raising he witnessed was the first or second one [Annotator’s Note: the first flag was rather small and was replaced by a larger flag. The second raising was captured in the iconic photograph and film.]. One of the men who raised the flag was Ira Hayes who was born only 30 miles from Celaya’s home. During general quarters, Celaya had a battle station guarding a hatch. He carried a .45 [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber M1911 semi-automatic pistol] to prevent anyone below from abandoning their station. He could never have shot a fellow crewman. Most of the time while off the island of Iwo Jima, he was at general quarters. The same was true off Japan. Watch would be four hours on and four hours off duty. Celaya was constantly suffering from a mild case of seasickness. The food aboard ship was good, except for battle stations when only sandwiches were served. The ship at some point took on Japanese prisoners and placed them in the guardhouse. Indianapolis remained off Iwo Jima for about a week. There was a contingent of Marines on the ship guarding Admiral Spruance. They were constantly betting on how long it would take to subdue the enemy. They all underestimated the length required.

After Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Battle of Iwo Jima, 19 February to 26 March 1945; Iwo Jima, Japan], Adolfo V. Celaya participated in a second raid on Japan [Annotator’s Note: aboard the USS Indianapolis (CA-35)]. The enemy was waiting at that time for the task force of aircraft carriers, battleships, and cruisers. They clobbered the American forces. The aircraft carrier Franklin [Annotator’s Note: USS Franklin (CV-13)] was hit particularly hard. It lost about 400 men. Other carriers were also struck. Celaya was below deck and did not witness the action. His cruiser was tasked with foiling kamikazes and preventing damage to the aircraft carriers. The ship withdrew from that operation and resupplied before going to Okinawa. A suicide plane hit the Indianapolis off that island. Celaya got into a fight after being called a name. He injured his hand and was in the hospital when the casualties came in from the attack. He left sick bay at that point. The attack came on a Sunday after mass as Celaya and his friend Mike [Annotator’s Note: surname inaudible] observed the incoming plane going overhead. The kamikaze hit on the opposite side of the ship. The two men would not have made it if the plane would have hit on their side of the ship. The bomb on the plane exploded below deck. Nine Americans were lost in Celaya’s compartment. The ship hatch was closed. A small opening was in the middle of the hatch, but it was secured. A Marine prevented the two hatches from being opened even though crewmen were below. The ship had to be pumped out and welders sent in to repair damages. It took 24-hour-a-day efforts to get the ship underway. Celaya had guard duty, but also was granted liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. He visited his mother in nearby San Jose [Annotator’s Note: San Jose, California]. Celaya was not a good writer and sent no mail to his family. He had no special lady friends at home to write to because he was only 17 years of age. He could not drink in San Diego [Annotator’s Note: San Diego, California] at the time. More crewmen came aboard before the ship sailed. The atomic bomb was loaded during one of Celaya’s liberties. Four Marines guarded it. A pool was formed to guess what the mysterious cargo was. No one guessed or won the money. It shocked everyone when they found out what the cargo actually was. President Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States] sent a letter to the surviving crew of the ship to say that they had delivered the atomic bomb and helped win the war.

Adolfo V. Celaya sailed to Tinian [Annotator’s Note: aboard the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) delivering key components of the atomic bomb that would be dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in August 1945] and then Guam afterwards. Supplies were loaded for the voyage to the Philippines. The crew had no knowledge of what they had delivered to Tinian. The ship was possibly selected for the assignment because of its speed, or perhaps because it was available at the time after its repair [Annotator’s Note: Indianapolis had been struck by a kamikaze’s bomb and required repair in California. The work was completed in July 1945 concurrent with the availability of atomic bomb components due to transit to Tinian]. Celaya felt the atomic bombs saved both American and Japanese lives since the Japanese people would never surrender. They had to be brought to their knees. Some people accuse him of killing people, but he does not look at it that way. He argues the same position for the Iraq war. His belief is that it is better to fight them over there instead of here. Something had to be done. Others do not always see it that way. In 1939, Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] was taking over the world with nothing being done. Others advised Celaya to stay away from service. He felt something had to be done or we might have been forced to speak a language other than English. A few days out of Guam, the ship was en route to the Philippines to join a task force, when it was struck. Many of those ships headed to Japan would have been lost when considering the kamikaze intentions at Okinawa. The suicide pilots were worse than the Iraq suicide bombers. [Annotator’s Note: he laughs]. The atomic bombs saved many lives. As the ship sailed from Guam, Celaya was normally down below deck. With the heat, he and his crew chief went above deck to sleep before their watch. Celaya brought a blanket along with him. There was no place to lay down. The deck was full of sailors. Finding a place, he covered himself with his blanket despite the heat. He had always slept with a blanket to keep the mosquitos off of him in his hometown of Florence [Annotator’s Note: Florence, Arizona]. When the second torpedo hit, a big ball of fire burned everyone near him. Celaya had lost his blanket with the fire and had been burned on his hands and legs which were not covered. He ran to the back of the ship. It was hard to see through the smoke. He lost contact with his crew chief. At the stern of the ship, Celaya’s friend, Santos Piña from Tucson [Annotator’s Note: Tucson, Arizona], was there. Celaya told his friend that he was going below to get a life jacket, but Piña said that the whole bow of the ship was gone. The two opted to jump together using the one life jacket. When they did, Celaya hit something. He thought he had hit his friend and killed him because Piña was nowhere to be seen. Celaya worried that he would be taken down by the ship’s suction, but that did not happen.

Adolfo V. Celaya first encountered a man laying on his back [Annotator’s Note: while in the Pacific Ocean after the sinking of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) in July 1945. The cruiser was en route from Guam to the Philippines after delivery of atomic bomb components to Tinian]. The man appeared lifeless. Celaya wanted his life jacket [Annotator’s Note: he had hurriedly jumped from the burning and rapidly sinking Indianapolis without a personal life jacket]. The man told Celaya to get away from him. Celaya hoped the man lived a long life so he would come to regret not offering help to him [Annotator’s Note: he laughs]. Celaya found a raft with three men on it. He was refused the opportunity to come aboard, but held onto the side of it instead for five days. More sailors gathered around the raft. Celaya could not understand why the men on the raft did not try to help him. There was little time for him to react after the first and second hits [Annotator’s Note: torpedoes launched from the Japanese I-58 submarine fatally struck the cruiser]. He was at midship on the quarter deck during the explosions [Annotator’s Note: Celaya has a photograph of the ship which he uses to indicate his various positions while sleeping and during the sinking]. His friend, Santos Piña, had watch on the bow and saw the forward portion of the ship was destroyed by the torpedo attack. Celaya was sleeping topside [Annotator’s Note: he points to the starboard side of the quarter deck]. Most of the men around him did not survive the heat and fire. The blanket he slept with saved him [Annotator’s Note: his burns were limited to hands and legs]. The ship began to list [Annotator’s Note: he uses the photograph to indicate a starboard list]. Celaya and Santos Piña were on the opposite side and they jumped into the sea when the ship went all the way down. It was a good size jump for them. The ship sunk in 12 to 15 minutes, but Celaya lost track of time. It went down fast for a large ship. Celaya wore a Saint Anthony medal around his neck. It later helped him abate his thirst while he was stranded in the ocean after he placed it in his mouth.

Adolfo V. Celaya heard men who seemed to know each other [Annotator’s Note: while in the Pacific Ocean after the sinking of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) in July 1945. The cruiser was in route from Guam to the Philippines after delivery of atomic bomb components to Tinian]. He did not know any of them and felt alone. There were about 60 or 70 adrift sailors in the group near him. The third day, they joined another group. Up to that point, he feared he had killed his friend, Santos Piña, by jumping on him when abandoning ship [Annotator’s Note: torpedoes launched from the Japanese I-58 submarine fatally struck the cruiser. He had hurriedly jumped from the burning and rapidly sinking Indianapolis without a personal life jacket choosing instead to share Piña’s lifesaving gear.]. Celaya had talked to no one but his crew chief in the water [Annotator’s Note: he had immediately lost contact with Piña, his friend]. The crew chief eventually swam away from the group. The third night, he heard two men speaking Spanish, but assumed he might be losing his mental faculties after consuming salt water. It turned out both men he heard were from Tucson [Annotator’s Note: Tucson, Arizona was near Celaya’s hometown of Florence, Arizona. There is a brief interview interruption between 0:57:06:000 and 0:58:01:000]. It was Piña and Fernando Sanchez. Celaya was glad to see them but returned to his crew chief. Shortly thereafter, the chief swam away and waved farewell to Celaya. It was sad. It was progressively harder to try to rescue separated individuals as fatigue set in the longer survivors were in the water. Some men had others who aided them, but Celaya did not. He had no tablets for thirst or food. There may have been some available, but Celaya did not see any of them. He had some level of fear, but felt he could keep going. He did not think of death. The experience bothers him more now than when he was in the water. He would rather spend five days in the water than seven days on bread and water [Annotator’s Note: he later recounts punishment during his homecoming where he was incarcerated and given only bread and water for seven days for refusing an order he felt was unfair]. When the planes came over, he was not as excited as everyone else. About 50 sailors were lost while fighting each other over dropped water and supplies. Some tried to swim over to the supplies but could not make it. Celaya held back rather than going immediately for the water. When he did drink some of the water, it was very hot canned water. He never had friends on the ship except for those in the fire room [Annotator’s Note: the boiler room] and the men who were Spanish-speaking [Annotator’s Note: Piña and Sanchez]. While exposed to the salt water, his eyes were constantly sore. His burns were affected and took a long time to heal. His knees and back were injured when he abandoned ship and that pain has been long-lasting. He got into trouble for indicating his pain later [Annotator’s Note: that was the incident when he refused an order to continue loading supplies despite the injuries].

Adolfo V. Celaya was taken aboard the Basset [Annotator’s Note: USS Bassett (APD-73), which rescued 154 survivors of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) following the cruiser being sunk by Japanese I-58 submarine in July 1945. Celaya had been adrift for five days without food or water prior to his rescue.]. Landing barges [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP; also known as the Higgins boat] were used to secure survivors with hooks so that they could be picked up and taken to the ship. From the landing barge, Celaya was put in a stretcher and taken up to the ship. He was given a small cup of water periodically and never provided with a large amount. The men of the Bassett did a good job of taking care of the Indianapolis survivors. They gave them their beds after showering the oil off of them. They would wake the men to give them a little water. While in the water, oil was always in the eyes. Celaya’s eyes hurt the whole time. Salt water also hurt his eyes. Aboard the rescue ship, he was too weak to walk. He needed aid to walk in the hospital. He felt like ants were going up and down his legs because his circulation was poor. Some of the men who were in a raft did not have the same problem. When the landing barge was near the ship, the water was rough. The sailors bringing the survivors aboard did a good job. Celaya slept quite a bit on the Bassett using a ship’s bunk. He has a lot of praise for the rescuers on the Bassett. Celaya does not attend reunions so he has not met any of them. He does not attend Indianapolis reunions. He feels he is the black sheep of the crew [Annotator’s Note: he experienced name calling because of his Mexican-American background]. He may change his mind later. He was in the hospital in the Philippines for a short time and then taken to Guam. He chose to fly to the island instead of sailing there. He did not want to go by ship even though he was frightened to fly. He continued to recover on Guam at a submarine camp where there was good food and ice cream. He weighed 120 to 125 pounds and began gaining weight. He had a ball. He returned to the United States aboard the carrier Hollandia [Annotator’s Note: USS Hollandia (CVE-97)]. He discovered later that his mother found out about the sinking in an article in the San Jose [Annotator’s Note: San Jose, California] newspaper. The family found it hard to believe at first. His father was contacted about Celaya’s rescue but never told his mother [Annotator’s Note: the former married couple had divorced]. His mother only found out about her son’s survival much later.

Adolfo V. Celaya returned to the United States and joined his father in a one-bedroom apartment in Tucson [Annotator’s Note: Tucson, Arizona]. He experienced sleep deprivation issues resulting from his experiences [Annotator’s Note: he was five days in the Pacific Ocean without food and water and hunted by sharks after the sinking of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) in July 1945. The cruiser was en route from Guam to the Philippines after delivery of atomic bomb components to Tinian]. He turned to alcohol and soon became a regular at the local bar even though he was under legal drinking age. The bartender would not refuse Celaya a drink while he was in his uniform. Celaya’s schoolmates in Florence [Annotator’s Note: Florence, Arizona] and their coach helped Celaya break his alcohol dependency. Celaya went on to finish high school, excel in sports and graduate junior college. His friends and coach saved him. Celaya would not speak about his experiences until he met the pilot who found the adrift sailors in the ocean. Chuck Gwinn [Annotator’s Note: Lieutenant Wilbur “Chuck” Gwinn, a PV-1 Ventura Bomber pilot] would speak of his experiences with the Indianapolis and reference Celaya at those engagements. When Gwen had cancer problems, he asked Celaya to substitute for him. Reluctantly, Celaya did so and has been talking about his days in the water ever since. He was encouraged by a good friend from Boston [Annotator’s Note: Boston, Massachusetts]. Talking of the incidents resulted in Celaya having tears in his eyes. He now speaks to high school students. It no longer bothers him as much. It helps him even though it bothers him some. It is less difficult than what it was originally. When Celaya went to see the pilot fighting cancer, the aviator’s wife said he did not want Celaya to see him in the condition he was in. Gwinn helped Celaya out quite a bit. Gwinn’s plane was looking for submarines when he saw an oil slick. Trying to locate a submarine, he found the Indianapolis survivors instead. Gwinn radioed in and the sailors were picked up. Celaya met Gwinn in 1965 in California. Celaya had turned down reunions in Indianapolis because he did not like the guys he sailed with [Annotator’s Note: he experienced considerable bigotry since he was Mexican-American]. He learned Gwinn lived close by and decided to call him. Gwinn’s wife invited Celaya to visit them. Mistaken for a gardener instead of a survivor at first, Celaya and Gwinn’s wife had a laugh over the confusion [Annotator’s Note: he laughs]. At first, Celaya thought Gwinn was a survivor instead of the rescuing pilot. They had a laugh over the mutual confusion in their first encounter. Gwinn retired from the school district. At the ceremony, he introduced his family and afterward described Celaya’s family as his second family. Celaya had a long relationship with Gwinn [Annotator’s Note: obviously a close relationship by Celaya’s indications of fondness for Gwinn].

Adolfo V. Celaya returned to the United States after the war. He was on the aircraft carrier Hollandia [Annotator’s Note: USS Hollandia (CVE-97)] with about 4,000 other veterans. Every morning the survivors [Annotator’s Note: survivors of the sunken USS Indianapolis (CA-35)] would have roll call. The first day, the officer of the day gave Celaya work detail. He and another man went down and started moving boxes. The second day, Celaya was called upon again to work. Celaya’s back was hurting at that stage. On the third day, he was picked once again by that same officer who had been aboard the Indianapolis. Celaya told the officer about his back [Annotator’s Note: he had injured his back while abandoning ship on the sinking Indianapolis] and requested someone else be called upon. The officer, despite being on the Indianapolis himself, said Celaya was refusing an order. Celaya was sent to sickbay. There, the inspecting individuals could find no indication of injury so Celaya was taken for Captain’s Mast [Annotator’s Note: a low-level hearing to determine potential minor offenses]. Celaya was given five days bread and water [Annotator’s Note: Naval officers were allowed to punish sailors by limiting their meals to only bread and water] on the aircraft carrier brig. Arriving in San Diego [Annotator’s Note: San Diego, California] after two days, the survivors disembarked to fanfare. Meanwhile, Celaya was taken off the ship away from that scene and situated by two MPs [Annotator’s Note: military police] in a barracks. He was then forced to spend an additional five days in the brig on shore having only bread and water. The brig was a cramped chicken coop with a mattress and pillow, and wire over the top. He spent five days there. It was a terrible five days compared to the five days in the ocean. The accusing officer was a prejudiced. Celaya can smell that type of person. In those days, being Hispanic was tough. It was hard to fight back unlike today. He never saw any of the Indianapolis shipmates again except for his friends Santos Piña and Fernando Sanchez in Tucson [Annotator’s Note: Tucson, Arizona]. He knows only Gray [Annotator’s Note: no given name provided] and Carver [Annotator’s Note: no given name provided] only because Chuck Gwinn [Annotator’s Note: Gwinn flew the plane that first spotted the Indianapolis survivors adrift in the sea] would have reunions. [Annotator’s Note: there is an interruption in the interview for a dining planning discussion with an individual off camera] Pina and Sanchez came out of the water fine. The two even experienced the band and recognition upon leaving the Hollandia. Celaya was a loner instead. That end to his service hurt him significantly. There were too many rednecks on the ship. While 317 men survived, he gets calls from individuals all over the United States questioning his treatment. Meanwhile, none of the other survivors have contacted him. He will never like those shipmates. He will not bother with them. Celaya met his wife after discharge in Tucson. He married her while playing ball in high school. The G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] helped him with his education in high school and junior college. He had to work his last year. His career was in heating and air conditioning. He did not like teaching and worked for the government for five years. He worked the rest of the time in heating and air conditioning. His son is now managing the business.