A group of true American heroes met this past winter in the Hill Country town of Comanche. About thirty former POWs (or close family members) from several different wars received a warm welcome from city officials at the Best Western motel as the American Ex-Prisoners of War held their annual mid-winter convention.

Although there is not a Comanche chapter of the AX-POW, the group has strong support in this patriotic town. In fact, a large percentage of Comanche’s youth enlisted in the armed services during World War II, and more than 50 Comanche residents have been POWs. Along with James Arthur (Comanche County Judge and Air Force veteran) and Dr. Raymond Stepp (Mayor of Comanche), one of the featured speakers was a Comanche native and a survivor of the worst naval disaster in U.S. history.

L.D. Cox had joined the Navy at the height of World War II, and had boarded the heavy cruiser U.S.S. Indianapolis at the same time as its new captain, Charles Butler McVay III, in November of 1944. The ship served as flagship for Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, and played an important role in several historic battles, including the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Cox recalls one occasion where an American warplane hit the superstructure just over his head when he was in the “crow’s nest” 100 feet above the water. He was privileged to witness the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, and says “If everyone had seen that, we wouldn’t have flag-burnings today. Every time I see the flag, I feel proud.”

At the battle of Okinawa, Cox was in the mess hall when an alarm was sounded and everyone was called to battle stations. As he rushed to the deck, a bomb from a kamikaze plane tore through nine decks, hitting the mess hall that he had just left. Nine sailors were killed and 26 wounded.

The extensive damage forced the Indianapolis back to port in San Francisco, where it was repaired and sent on a secret mission with a mysterious wooden crate on ...

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