By Jean A. Flanagan
Moorefield Examiner
Richard Hulver seemed destined for a career in military history. His father, Terry Hulver, was a high school history teacher and his grandfather, Allen Barb was a tank commander in the Korean War.
“I’ve always had a deep interest in history, particularly military history,” he said. “There are historic sites all around Hardy County and the Shenandoah Valley that I visited frequently.”
A 2005 graduate of East Hardy High School, Hulver was instrumental in locating the wreckage of the USS Indianapolis, the Portland-class heavy cruiser that was torpedoed in the Pacific Ocean in July 1945. Of the nearly 1,200-man crew, 300 were lost with [private]the ship and almost 500 died waiting for rescue.
Hulver graduated from Shepherd College in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in history. He received his masters in history and doctorate in U.S. Foreign Relations/Public History from West Virginia University.
He interned at the US. Army Center of Military History and worked as a historian for the U.S. Southern Command and the American Battle Monuments Commission. He currently works at the Naval History and Heritage Command on the Washington Navy Yard.
“The 71st anniversary of the loss of the USS Indianapolis happened shortly after I came aboard at the NHHC,” Hulver said.
“Our director, Rear Admiral Samuel Cox, wanted us to revisit the records of the sinking to make sure we had an accurate history that could provide lessons to the Navy and the public, and properly commemorate the crew. I was assigned lead historian. My job was to tell the Indianapolis story and see if there was anything in the records that might help better understand where she sank.”
People had looked for the Indianapolis before with no success. Hulver said this was primarily because the Navy estimated the last position to be where the ship should have been if it had followed its routing instructions exactly.
“It was an estimated position because all of the ship’s records went down with the ship,” he said. “A distress signal with coordinates sent by the crew was never received by anyone in the Navy because it sank in 12 minutes and communications were down. The location reported by the Japanese was not deciphered by the U.S.”
All of the sources of the exact location were gone and all of the records were 70 years old.
Captain Charles B. McVay III survived the sinking and was later rescued at sea. He was interviewed two months after the Indianapolis went down. In that interview, he mentioned passing a U.S. Navy LST – tank landing ship – about 1 p.m. on the day the Indianapolis sank. While he didn’t identify which LST passed, Hulver thought it was important.
“All Navy ships record their latitude and longitude in their log at 8 a.m., noon and 8 p.m.,” Hulver said. “If I could determine the specific LST, I could access its logs for July 29, 1945 and see where it was at noon, just before it passed the Indianapolis.”
Since Hulver didn’t have the exact LST that passed the Indianapolis, he resorted to a deep dive on the Internet. He came across a blog post written on Memorial Day 2015 by a candy shop owner in Michigan.
“The man talked about how his father had passed the Indianapolis on her last day,” Hulver said. “He wrote he was thankful that his father’s ship hadn’t met the same fate.”
While Hulver still didn’t have the name of the LST, he had the name of the sailor who was on it. He pulled personnel files and found the sailor was on the LST-779. From there he could find the logs and determine its position at noon on the day the Indianapolis sank.
“The ship’s noontime position ultimately showed the Indianapolis was further west than previously thought.,” he said.
Eureka!
“The discovery of the LST-779 was a very rewarding moment and one of those times that reaffirms my decision to become a professional historian,” Hulver said. “It was unbelievable in the sense that no one else had connected the pieces of the story in 70 years.”
Hulver took the new information to the Navy’s underwater archeologists who, along with the coordinates of where the survivors were located and calculating their drift, began to identify a new search area.
Hulver published several articles about the LST-779 and the new information, which renewed attention to the wreck.
The following year, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s research team approached the Navy about supporting an expedition to find the Indianapolis. The research vessel Petrel would lead the expedition.
“On the morning of Aug. 19, 2017, I was notified the Indianapolis had been discovered,” Hulver said. “The Petrel sent images of the ship’s hull with it’s designation CA-35 and a tool box with ‘USS Indianapolis Spare Parts’ stenciled on it. It was an incredibly satisfying moment for all of NHHC. I was honored to be able to contribute to such an important discovery and help bring closure to the few living Indianapolis survivors.
“The coordinates of the wreck are not public, as the site is a U.S. war grave and still U.S. Navy property. It’s more than three miles down and could not easily be tampered with, but the Navy protects these sites.”
Hulver said his time in Hardy County and his choice of Shepherd College for his undergraduate degree shaped his career path.
“There are no limits on what a student in Hardy County can achieve,” he said. “I actually think that the smaller class size and the relationships I built with teachers at East Hardy better prepared me for the social elements of academia and work. I was able to enter interviews and social settings comfortably, talking and connecting with people.”
Hulver took college classes as a senior at East Hardy High School, which gave him an advantage at Shepherd and ultimately allowed him to intern at the U. S. Army Center of Military History in Washington D.C. It was there he decided on a career in civil service.
“Hardy County students have an advantage other students in West Virginia do not have and that’s the close proximity to Washington D.C.,” Hulver said. “I encourage students to take advantage of that proximity. Take advantage of the history, the culture, the sports. Call your Senators and Congressmen and set up a tour of the Capitol.”
Hulver has written a book about the sinking of the Indianapolis, which will be available later this year. It is entitled “A Grave Misfortune: The USS Indianapolis Tragedy.”
“It is my hope that all of my work on the Indianapolis will bring attention to the loss, help properly commemorate the ship and the crew and offer an accurate history of the loss that will be of use to the Navy,” Hulver said.
Richard Hulver is the son of Terry and Brenda Hulver of Baker. Terry taught history at Wardensville and East Hardy High School for 40 years before retiring. Brenda has been the bookkeeper at E. A. Hawse Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for more than 30 years.
Richard lives in Alexandria, Va., with his wife, Caitlin.[/private]
