PROCAI-EARL

KILLED  IN  KAMAKAZI  ATTACK

When Bugler Second Class Earl Peter Procai graduated from high school, he joined the Navy in September 1943.  Following recruit training he was assigned to USS INDIANAPOLIS where he served as one of four buglers aboard the ship.  On March 31, 1945, the ship was off Okinawa when it was struck by a Kamikaze plane.  The resulting damage killed 9 crewmen including BUG2 Procai.  The following are excerpts from a condolence letter written by the ship’s chaplain to Procai’s parents as the ship sailed to Mare Island in California for repairs:

“April 10, 1945.  Dear Mr. Procai.  The Navy department has already informed you that your son Earl Peter Procai was killed in action on the morning of the 31^st of March.  It is my sad duty to add to this brief statement whatever details military security allows and to give you my sincere sympathy for the loss of your boy.  The blow which struck your son killed him instantly.  As soon as he was hit two men carried him out of the damaged compartment.  Doctors examined him at once but he was beyond any assistance they could give.  We carried his body down to the sick bay, encased in a canvas burial shroud and then placed in a wooded coffin.  We buried him that afternoon.”

“His flag draped coffin was placed on the quarterdeck and in the presence of Admiral R. A. Spruance, Commander of the Fifth Fleet, his staff, and the ship’s entire company, I read the prayers over him.  Six men from his division acted as bearers.  They carried him into a small boat alongside.  The Marine firing squad fired three volleys and the ship’s bugler sounded taps.  We buried him in the American Cemetery on one of the small islands of the Pacific.  The flag which draped his coffin is being sent to you and you should receive it soon.”    

“Your son was one of the most well liked and respected men aboard this ship.  Everyone from the Commanding Officer down to the men in his division thought and spoke very highly of him.  He was always cheerful and willing and devoted to his duties and we will all miss him very much.  Our loss however will be small compared to the loss you will feel a losing such a wonderful boy. His country is proud of him and shall never forget what he contributed to her.  The memory of his courageous sacrifice will never fade and to us who knew him it shall ever be an inspiration and an encouragement to carry on the work that still needs to be done.”

“I hope you will find some consolation in the thought that when this war shall end and peace and happiness will once more come to the world, you will remember that you before all others have paid the greatest price anyone could pay, for you have given your son and no one can do more than this.” 

          /S/  Thomas M. Conway, Chaplain, LT USNR

NOTE:  Following the war the body of BUG2 Procai was reburied at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)