LEFT FOR DEAD

A young man’s search for justice for the USS Indianapolis

By: Dillon Knowlton

The book Left for Dead is personally one of

the most unorganized books I have ever read.

It’s a great book though about a crew that

was part of the USS Indianapolis and they

were out at sea and they got struck by

torpedoes from Japanese subs. “Meecyuu! A

hit!” (Nelson 52) They had sent out an S.O.S

message before the ship sunk but the navy

had failed to send help. “Why didn’t anybody

hear the SOSs?” (Nelson102). The crew had

been in the shark infested waters for days

with no help. “As long as they didn’t dangle

their legs in the water, his men were

relatively safe from sharks, though sharks

were known to attack boats and overturn life

rafts.” (Nelson73) When help finally came

the navy immediately filed a court case to

find out what happened and in the end they

blamed the captain for not avoiding being hit

by the torpedoes even though he had no way

to stop them. “If she’d been equipped with

sonar, she could have detected the

submarines presence and taken evasive

action.” (Nelson 102) This story was a great

story of justice and the fight one boy has for

the sake of his new friends and project.

I noticed that throughout the story the

author was very informative and really

when he was talking about one thing he

would go to the next. The author was

trying to teach me something about being

brave and standing up for what you

believe in. Hunter Scott stood up for his

friends and even though he didn’t get first

place for his project he still stood up for

what he thought was right. This author

really taught me how you can never give

up even in hard times. The crew all never

gave up in there captain and for that some

of them are still here with us today. The

crew also never gave up in their great

friend Hunter who stood up for them and

spent a big part of his teenage life

researching and finding clues to get them

through their tragic confusion. Author

Pete Nelson has taught me a valuable

lesson to not be afraid to stand up for what

you believe is right.

Have you ever been scared? So scared that

you want to kill yourself? Nope didn’t

think so! Left for dead really got me

thinking about how much people go

through and it sometimes brings them to

death. While the crew was in the water

they were so dehydrated that they started

hallucinating. In this book people were

killing each other left and right because

they were so desperate for food. I don’t

think I would take myself that far… would

you? Nope again didn’t think so! Left for

Dead really captured me and honestly this

is the first book that I have fully read and

it was the best so far. Are you ready to be

captured? To be lifted off your feet in

excitement? I know I am and you will too

after you read Left for Dead.

Author Page

Pete Nelson is the author of 18 books of fiction and nonfiction and has

written for numerous magazines. His most recent book, That Others May

Live tells the story of the Air Force’s par rescue jumpers. He lives in

Massachusetts with his wife and son. Pete Nelson has published nineteen

books of fiction, six non-fiction books, and over 150 short stories or articles

in magazines including Esquire, Harpers, Playboy, the Iowa Review, the

North American Review, Redbook, Seventeen, MS, Mother Jones and

Rolling Stone. He is a really good author and I would suggest reading any

of his books because he really caught me and I could never put “Left for

Dead” down. I can’t wait for a sequel or another book about one of these

great naval battles and people seeking for justice.