Guenther, Morgan E. Papers

Sailor, U.S. Navy, 1942-1945

The papers of Morgan E. Guenther contain correspondence, certificates, printed materials, and other items primarily relating to his service aboard the USS Indianapolis during World War II and the loss of his life in the sinking of that vessel by a Japanese submarine in July 1945.

Size: Less than one linear foot (approximately 100 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor has given their copyright interest in these papers to the United States of America. Records created by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are also in the public domain. The copyright interest in other documents in the collection presumably belongs to the creators of those documents or their heirs.
Processed by: Randy Sowell (2024).

Morgan Edward Guenther was born on February 6, 1922. During the Second World War, he served as an Electrician’s Mate, Third Class aboard the USS Indianapolis, a heavy cruiser. On the night of July 29-30, 1945, only a few days after delivering important components of the atomic bomb to the U.S. Naval Base on Tinian Island, the Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea. The ship sank in about twelve minutes, and the survivors had to contend with hunger, thirst, exposure, and shark-infested waters for four days before they were rescued. Of the nearly 1,200 crewmen aboard, only 316 survived. Morgan Guenther’s body was never recovered.

The sinking of the Indianapolis resulted in the largest death toll from the loss of a single ship at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy. In 2018, the crew of the Indianapolis was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

The papers of Morgan E. Guenther contain correspondence, certificates, printed materials, and other items primarily relating to his service aboard the USS Indianapolis during World War II and the loss of his life in the sinking of that vessel by a Japanese submarine in July 1945.

The correspondence in the collection mostly consists of letters and telegrams exchanged between Guenther and his family during his wartime service. Most of the letters to Guenther are from his sister, Mrs. Hazel Blaylock of Granite City, Illinois. The last letter from Mrs. Blaylock to her brother, dated only a few days before his death, was returned to her. Also included are telegrams from the Navy informing Guenther’s family that he was missing in action and, later, that he was presumed dead.

The collection includes the certificates Guenther received on such occasions as his graduation from grammar school in Granite City and his completion of the Navy training course for promotion to Electrician’s Mate, Third Class, as well as a citation in recognition of his death in the sinking of the Indianapolis, with the facsimile signature of President Truman. Among the printed materials are newspaper articles concerning Guenther, the loss of his ship, and a memorial to the Indianapolis that was dedicated in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1995.

Several photographs of Morgan E. Guenther and the Indianapolis have been transferred to the Truman Library’s audiovisual collection.