Robert Adrian Marks: PBY Catalina Black Cat pilot saved 56 men

Disobeyed orders and used his airplane as a lifeboat

In WW2 when the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed and sank, there were 1200 men aboard. Their distress call sounded fake so it was ignored. When a patrol plane spotted hundreds of men floating in the water a couple days later, it sent a distress call which Robert and his PBY Dumbo responded to. Seeing so many men in the water with terrible injuries and sharks attacking groups of men, Robert decided against orders to land in the rough 12 ft seas with his flying boat to pick up as many men as he could. After nearly crashing the plane to land between swells, he taxied around picking up as many men as he could. With no room inside the airplane, he lashed men to the wings with parachute cords to keep them from falling off. In total he saved 56 men from death until a destroyer arrived to pick up the rest of the survivors a day later. It is estimated that 700 men lost their lives to sharks and exposure. 300 men survived of which 56 were saved by Marks. Taking a chance, risking death and court martial, Robert Marks saved the future generation of 56 men. How do you quantify that in value?

We are the children of brave men. Valor is in you. Set it free.