[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 79 (Wednesday, June 17, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1145]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1145]]



   TRIBUTE TO THE CREWS OF THE USS REGISTER AND THE USS INDIANAPOLIS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SILVESTRE REYES

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 17, 1998

  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize that on September 
15-21, 1998, survivors of the USS Register and Indianapolis will be 
having their reunion in El Paso, Texas at the Howard Johnson Lodge.
  The USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was commissioned at the Philadelphia 
Navy Yard on November 15, 1932. The ship served with honor from Pearl 
Harbor through the last campaign of World War II, sinking in action two 
weeks before the end of the war. On July 30, 1945, while sailing from 
Guam to Leyte, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by Japanese submarine 
I-58. The ship capsized and sank in twelve minutes. Survivors were 
spotted by a patrol aircraft on August 2nd. All air and surface units 
capable of rescue operations were dispatched to the scene at once. The 
USS Register was among the several ships involved in the rescue. Upon 
completion of the day and night search on August 8th, 316 men were 
rescued out of a crew of 1,199.
  The USS Register (APD-92/DE233) served in the Pacific Theater of 
operation as an attack personnel destroyer during World War II. On May 
20, 1945, the ship survived a hit by a Japanese kamikaze plane off the 
island of Okinawa, sustaining casualties and heavy hull damages, after 
shooting down three enemy suicide planes. On August 3rd, the USS 
Register was among eight ships that rescued some survivors of the ill-
fated USS Indianapolis.
  After distinguished service, the USS Register was decommissioned 
March 31, 1946 at Green Cove Springs, Florida on the Saint Johns River. 
In the Spring of 1966 it was struck from the Naval Reserve Fleet and 
subsequently transferred to the Republic of China Navy and renamed the 
Tai Shan.
  ``We the surviving shipmates of the USS Register and the survivors of 
the USS Indianapolis value the memories of their service in the United 
States Navy and our shipmates who are no longer with us and are not 
forgotten for their distinguished service and eternal brotherhood. Rest 
in peace shipmates. On their behalf, we honor them and Paul James 
Register, for whom our ship was named for, who was killed in action 
while serving aboard the ill-fated USS Arizona, December 7, 1941 at 
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.''


          Service members of the USS Register and Indianapolis

  The sailors of the USS Register and Indianapolis served the United 
States of America with honor and distinction. These veterans of WWII 
contributed to end the war in the Pacific and the war as a whole. They 
deserve a page in history, for their story is a reminder of all the 
servicemen and women who gave their lives to preserve the freedoms that 
we take for granted today.

                          ____________________