WWII veteran among last who survived sinking of USS Indianapolis dies at 95
Source: Omaha World Herald
By Joe Duggan
LINCOLN — Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the 23-year-old sailor from Nebraska was literally dying of thirst.
Clarence Hupka and other crew escaped the sinking of the USS Indianapolis only to spend nearly five days adrift under a tropical sun. He’d seen dozens of his crewmates die from wounds, dehydration and even shark attacks in the hours after a Japanese submarine had torpedoed the heavy cruiser in the waning days of World War II.
Hupka wanted nothing more than to obey his parched, swollen tongue, but he knew that drinking salt water meant death. So he obeyed his training, which he later credited for keeping him among the 317 men who survived. The 879 other crew members went down with the ship or perished while awaiting rescue.
Hupka — one of the last living survivors of the Indianapolis — died Sunday in Tecumseh at the age of 95. Over the years, the soft-spoken, unassuming farmer had shared his war experiences with schoolchildren and civic organizations across southeast Nebraska.
FULL story at link. I met Clarence Hupka at a charity Jaws event: http://www.omahafilmevent.com/past/jaws1.htm
Related video: http://studio.omaha.com?ndn.trackingGroup=91341&ndn.siteSection=91341_pp&ndn.videoId=32860131
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Read more: http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/wwii-veteran-among-last-who-survived-sinking-of-uss-indianapolis/article_c546fc3e-bf60-11e7-a56d-ab6987c58f9f.html
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Thank you. 
Sail on Sailor.
