Cleatus Lebow was a U.S. Navy veteran and one of the last living survivors of the USS Indianapolis disaster in World War II.
- Died: September 29, 2022 (Who else died on September 29?)
- Details of death: Died at the age of 98.
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World War II and later life
Lebow joined the Navy in 1943 and was assigned to the Indianapolis. In July 1945, the Indianapolis was in the Philippine Sea, having just delivered components for the atomic bomb Little Boy. When a Japanese submarine torpedoed the ship, it quickly sank, taking hundred of its crewmembers with it. Hundreds more were left in the water, with no one else aware of the ship’s fate. After several days in the water, many men were lost to drowning and shark attacks, and when they were finally noticed by a passing plane and rescued, only 316 of 1,195 crewmembers had survived. Lebow was one of them, and with his death, only one other Indianapolis survivor is still living, Harold Bray. After his rescue, Lebow returned home to Texas, where he was a longtime phone company employee.
Lebow on being rescued
“He went over us and come back waving his wings and when he did that, I said that was the prettiest airplane I ever saw.” —from a 2015 interview for the U.S. Navy
Tributes to Cleatus Lebow
Full obituary: Times-Herald
