HONOLULU — The Navy exonerated a former captain who was court-martialed for failing to steer a zigzag course to evade a Japanese submarine that sank the USS Indianapolis in World War II.
Capt. Charles Butler McVay III committed suicide 33 years ago, but his son, Kimo Wilder McVay, fought for years to clear his father's record. The younger McVay died two weeks ago.
A directive from Navy Secretary Gordon England orders a document exonerating the elder McVay to be placed in his file, Cmdr. Greg Smith, director of the Navy's media operations in Washington, said Thursday.
The order follows a congressional resolution signed into law last fall by then-President Bill Clinton that changes McVay's record to show he is exonerated and to award the ship and crew a Navy Unit Commendation.
But the Navy had until now refused to lift the conviction from McVay's record, saying he got a fair trial.
Survivors of the 1945 sinking were grateful for the news.
"I was overjoyed," Indianapolis survivor Giles McCoy said Thursday. "I tell you, I've been working on trying to get him exonerated since 1964."
"He was not guilty of anything except the fortune or misfortune of war," he added.
McCoy, 76, of Palm Coast, Fla., said he first broached the idea of an exoneration to McVay at the survivors' first reunion in Indianapolis in 1960 but the captain told him not to pursue it. McVay gave the go-ahead four years later but said he doubted the Navy would agree.
McVay was court-martialed and found guilty of failing to evade the Japanese submarine attack that sank the cruiser as it headed from Guam to the Philippines. Only 316 of the 1,196 men aboard were alive when rescuers arrived 4 1/2 days later.
McVay remained in the Navy but was denied promotion to rear admiral upon retirement. He killed himself in 1968.
"Now Kimo can rest in peace," said Betsy Kim McVay, Kimo McVay's widow.