Harlan Twible was born in Gilbertville, Massachusetts in March 1922. He spent his first 18 years in Gilbertville but has not been back there since. Twible had two brothers and a sister. He was third in line. Twible's father was an Irish immigrant who moved to the United States to find a better place to live. He had come over with his family. Combined his family brought 600 dollars with them. His father spent his entire career in the clothing industry. His father insisted that Twible and his siblings would be educated. Among them, Twible and his siblings obtained two doctorate and two master's degrees. Twible was walking through the United Aircraft factory in Hartford, Connecticut on a sightseeing tour when he learned about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was astounded to hear the news. Twible followed the war in Europe in school.

After graduating high school, Harlan Twible got a job then started college with the money he earned. During his freshman year he learned that he could take a test to get into the U.S. Naval Academy. He liked the idea so he took the exam. The first time he took it he came in second place but the second time he took it he came in first. Twible was 19 when he took the first exam in March or April 1941. He took the second exam in March or April 1942. The plebe year [Annotator's Note: freshman students at the U.S. Naval Academy are referred to as Plebes] at the Naval Academy was very tough for the cadets. It was very strict and demanding. When Twible and the other cadets were sworn in they were told to shake hands with the men next to them because many would not be there in the fall. Twible specialized in electrical engineering at the Naval Academy. While attending the academy, Twible made some lifelong friends. Twible planned to make the Navy a career. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1945. As cadets they went on summer cruises every year to get them accustomed to the physical characteristics of ship handling. When Twible graduated he was commissioned an ensign in the Navy and assigned to the USS Indianapolis (CA-35).

Only two of them were assigned to capital ships [Annotator's Note: after graduating from the US Naval Academy] and both were assigned to the Indianapolis [Annotator's Note: USS Indianapolis (CA-35)]. The other man's orders were changed so Harlan Twible went to the Indianapolis alone. After graduation Twible got a 30 day leave. While on leave he married his girlfriend. The marriage lasted 73 years. Twible reported aboard the Indianapolis at a port near San Diego, California. He did not know it but the ship had been chosen to carry the first atomic bomb to the Pacific. Twible did see two sailors carrying something that Twible thought looked like a radium flask. Twible thought the Indianapolis was a beautiful ship.

[Annotator's Note: This segment begins with the interviewer asking Harlan Twible to describe the USS Indianapolis (CA-35).] Harlan Twible was assigned to Sky Aft in the secondary division. When the ship was hit and began to sink he was in Sky Aft. The other officer in Sky Aft with Twible left their position to get orders from the executive officer, Red Flynn, but he never returned. Twible then went to get orders and was told to go aft and get the men together. Twible gave the order to abandon ship and 325 men went into the water. Of that 325, 151 survived. When the torpedoes hit the ship, Twible was on watch. They did not see the enemy because visibility was almost nil. Twible was officer of the deck when the atomic bomb components were offloaded at the island of Tinian. There was not much activity on the ship but there was a lot happening on the dock. As soon as the components were off loaded the ship left to join the fleet. The torpedoes hit the ship around quarter to 12. Everyone aboard ship was aware that the ship had stopped zig zagging and had slowed down. Twible believes that the ship may have continued to zig zag a little and the ship slowed to 22 knots. When the second torpedo hit they knew they were in trouble. Twible told the men around him to hold on to anything they could. When the list became severe he gave the order to abandon ship. No one followed him initially so he yelled for everyone to follow him and he went into the water.

Harlan Twible and many others saw the ship [Annotator's Note: the USS Indianapolis (CA-35)] as it went down. They were only about 50 or 60 yards away from it. Twible had been well trained at the US Naval Academy so when he went into the water his first thought was to find a superior officer. When he could not find one he took command of the group. Initially the enlisted men did not listen to him but that changed when Gunner Horner [Annotator's Note: Twible is likely referring to Warrant Officer Durword Horner] ordered the men to obey Twible. Twible had the men tie themselves to the life nets. He had counted the men in the water so he knew he had 325 when they first went in. He later learned from someone onshore that 151 members of his group survived. Some of the men tied themselves to the four rope nets they had while others got onto the nets. Twible did not care which they did as long as they were attached to it. They also had three life rafts which many of the severely injured were placed in. Twible was one of the wounded. He had been hit in the side by shrapnel.

During the first night they [Annotator's Note: Harlan Twible and the other survivors of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35)] were in the water they faced disorder, fright, and wounds. Everyone was scared. They were all very young men but Twible had been well trained and was confident in his abilities. Twible had no expectation of being saved. His life jacket was so waterlogged by the time he was rescued he figures he was only ten to 15 hours away from going under. The kapok life jackets they were wearing were designed to work for 90 hours. Theirs held out for four days and five nights. On the first day the sharks grabbed some of the guys who had floated away from the group. When the sharks came in, Twible and the others would kick and scream in an effort to drive the sharks away. As far as Twible could tell, the sharks only got individuals who had gotten separated from the group. Twible could not see or hear any of the other groups of survivors. He did not know there were any other survivors. Twible set up a shark watch. Whenever someone saw a shark they were to yell out the sighting and start screaming. The sharks attacked in groups. They were caring for the wounded in the rafts. When one died, Twible would cut him loose and let him float out to sea. Twible does not recall if they had any supplies. He knows they had no food. Twible's group was floating in an oil slick which kept them from getting sunburned. The men in Twible's group were so scared and feeble that they were in no condition to disobey his orders. There were even other officers in the group who outranked him who followed his orders. Many of the men started to lose their senses but they saved all of the men they could. During his time in the water, Twible's biggest fear was for the men. He did not fear for himself. Twible stayed awake the entire five days he was in the water.

By the time they [Annotator's Note: Harlan Twible and the others in his group of survivors of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35)] were rescued there were only 151 men left. They all lost a lot of weight. Twible went down to 129 pounds. A lot of guys also died of hypothermia. Twible's objective was to keep the men alive. Twible's group was located by a plane that flew over them. A crewman aboard the plane recognized them as men in the water. Chuck Gwinn [Annotator's Note: Lieutenant Wilbur C. Gwinn] was the captain of the plane that found them. Once they were located it took 18 hours for the rescue ship to get to them. There was quite a bit of joy. Twible knew that he had to do everything to stay alive because someone was coming to get him. Twible never thought he would not make it. His thoughts were only for his crew. After they were taken to land Twible learned that there were other survivors.

Following Navy tradition, Harlan Twible was the last person to be pulled out of the water. He was picked up by the Bassett [Annotator's Note: USS Bassett (APD-73)]. After he was pulled aboard ship, Twible was fed water by the teaspoon. He was put in a bunk to rest for a short time then he was taken to be cleaned up. The crew of the Bassett treated them very well. As soon as Twible got into the bunk he passed out. He had no interest in food or water. All he wanted to do was sleep.

During the days following their [Annotator's Note: Harlan Twible and the other survivors of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35)] rescue, they were isolated from the other people in the camp they were brought to. Twible and two others signed out a jeep and drove around the island of Peleliu. The survivors were all debriefed. At that time, Twible was also put in for a medal but he did not know it at the time. A year and a half later he was called up on deck of the ship he was serving on and awarded the Purple Heart for his wounds and the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for bravery. His Purple Heart was pinned on him by Admiral Spruance [Annotator's Note: Admiral Raymond Spruance]. Twible did not want to talk about his experience after it happened. Twible was still on Peleliu when the war ended.

Harlan Twible returned to the United States in November [Annotator's Note: Novemebr 1945]. He remained in the service after the war. He got out in 1949. He was put on limited duty which killed his career. He finally decided to get out. Twible took part in Captain McVay's [Annotator's Note: US Navy Captain Charles Butler McVay III was the commanding officer of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) when that ship was sunk] court martial. When the bridge was blown out, secondary conn takes control of the ship. Twible was in secondary conn and was in control of the ship. He felt that the Navy was charging the wrong man. Twible maintained that attitude until the early 2000s when another hearing was held. Most of the survivors believed that Captain McVay had been railroaded.

Harlan Twible may have had nightmares after the war but it was nothing he could not handle. He left active duty the first time in 1948 or 1949. He left active duty for good in 1953 as a full lieutenant. He had no trouble transitioning back to civilian life. He used his GI Bill benefits to get his master's degree in Chicago. During the Korean War, he served as an intelligence officer in London. He had to sign a document stating that he would not reveal what he had been doing for 27 years. Twible had the best marriage he could have. He was married for 73 years. In his business career, he felt that there was no decision he could make that was as important as the order he gave for the men to abandon ship [Annotator's Note: Twible had given to order to abandon ship to the men with himon the aft end of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) when that ship was sunk in July 1945]. Twible spent 11 years in the Navy. He is bothered by the current state of affairs.