BENICIA – Saturday morning, the city of Benicia dedicated a new monument to a living resident, a man who served in World War II and became the sole survivor of one of the worst tragedies in maritime history.
Hundreds of people showed up to christen the new monument at Military East and First Street, which features a statue of one of Benicia’s favorite residents, Harold Bray.
At the age of 17, Bray set sail aboard the USS Indianapolis, which carried the atomic bomb that would later be dropped on Hiroshima. On its return, the Indianapolis was sunk by enemy torpedoes. Nine hundred sailors, including Bray, spent five days in the water fighting off a swarm of sharks. It was a terrifying ordeal, later made famous by a harrowing scene in the film Jaws.
“It was a bad experience. There’s nothing good about it,” Bray said, looking back on the memory 79 years later. “Every time you looked around, someone was gone.”
Harold was one of the 316 sailors who were rescued and he is now the last living survivor of that harrowing experience. The bronze statue portrays him as that young sailor, with a slight smile on his face, full of confidence mixed with a little swagger.
“This monument serves as a beacon of inspiration and reminds us of the courage and resilience that defines the human spirit,” monument committee member David Horn told the crowd.
Bray became a police officer in Benicia, which we remember fondly because of his 19-year career helping local children. When the pandemic hit in 2020 and city leaders began looking for something that would bring the community together, the choice for Harold Bray became clear.
“And this seemed to be a commonality among the citizens,” said David Batchelor, co-chair of the monuments committee. “When they talked to literally hundreds of people, they came up with the same name over and over again.”
Like many World War II veterans, Harold rarely spoke about his war experiences. After 26 years, he finally told some of his fellow police officers that he had been aboard the Indianapolis. His cousin, Eileen Chavez, said his modesty hasn’t changed much over the years.
“Other people talk about everything they’ve ever done, but he’s still the same way. He said, ‘Why are all these people here today?'” Chavez laughed.
“Oh, it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t bother me… People know what I went through and they like to hear the story,” Bray said. ‘Don’t know. It helps me forget about it, talk about it, you know?’
Talking about it helped Harold cope with the memory, but he will never truly forget it. Now we hope with the monument that others will not forget it either.
“So this is here permanently, for years to come,” said Nancy Herrera, co-chair of the monument. “But it’s a way for us to say ‘thank you.’ That’s what that illustrates.”
It is a thank you, not only to Harold Bray, but to all the other young men on board that ship who answered a country’s call but were never allowed to come home.
The sinking of the Indianapolis is said to be the greatest loss of life from a single ship lost at sea in the history of the United States Navy.
