A Story :

Just after the War’s end in 1945, Captain Charles McVay III was court-martialed unjustly to cover up for a series of naval blunders that ultimately led to the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. Captain McVay later committed suicide. For fifty years the Survivors Organization tried to exonerate Captain McVay and restore honor to the crew; however, their efforts were unsuccessful.

Hunter, now 21 years old, spent two years researching the sinking of the Indianapolis and the court-martial of her captain, uncovering new information that was withheld from Captain McVay’s Court-martial. Hunter has now accumulated the greatest collection in the world of information on USS Indianapolis.

In 1998 Hunter introduced legislation in the U.S. Congress that exonerated Captain McVay for the loss of the USS Indianapolis and awarded a Navy Unit Commendation to the survivors and crew. The legislation began as a school history project but later turned into a mission to right a wrong inflicted over fifty years ago. Hunter spent many weeks and made numerous trips to Washington D.C. to lobby for the legislation, meeting with many powerful and prominent people on “the Hill.” Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich invited him to be an intern for a summer, and Hunter was often accompanied by a camera crew for a national news program. In September, 1999, Hunter testified, on behalf of the survivors of the USS Indianapolis, before the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services. Less than one year later, in October 2000, President Clinton signed the legislation that finally honored the Captain and crew of the USS Indianapolis.

As a result of Hunter’s research and legislative efforts, George Magazine named him number fourteen of “The Twenty Most Fascinating Men in Politics” in 1999, and ABC’s 20/20 featured a half-hour program highlighting his efforts.

On May 14, 2002 Random House published Left For Dead, by Peter Nelson, which entails six years of Hunter’s life and the heroic story of the captain and crew of the USS Indianapolis. Hunter authored the preface to the book and has traveled around the country giving speeches and presentations to various groups, bookstores and conferences. For the last few years, Universal Studios has been producing a movie outlining his legislative efforts to win justice for the survivors of the USS Indianapolis.