War Memorial: Services for Cleatus Lebow, USS Indy survivor, to be held Sunday

Cleatus Lebow, a World War II veteran and one of the last remaining USS Indianapolis survivors, has died, it was announced Thursday. He was 98.

Services will be held in Memphis, Texas, on Sunday, Oct. 9, at 3 p.m. at Fairview Cemetery.

"It is with the deepest sadness and greatest respect we share that USS Indianapolis Survivor, Cleatus A. Lebow, passed away Thursday, September 29th in Amarillo Texas," the Texas Panhandle War Memorial Center (TPWMC) says in a news release. "Cleatus, 98, was a lifelong Texas resident, having grown up with 10 brothers and sisters in Abernathy. As a teen, he joined the Navy and was shortly thereafter assigned to the USS Indianapolis CA-35 in January of 1944. He helped the ship earn 7 of her 10 WWII battle stars. Cleatus was a Fire Controlman Technician, Petty Officer Third Class, who worked as a gunnery range-finder for most of those battles; including Marianas, Tinian, Iwo Jima, and the pre-bombardment of Okinawa. Cleatus was a survivor of the USS Indianapolis sinking in WWII."

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TPWMC notes that the Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sunk on July 30, 1945, after delivering the components of the atomic bomb, Little Boy to the island of Tinian. Lebow was among 316 who survived, after spending four nights and five days in the Pacific Ocean in shark infested waters, before being rescued.

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"Weeks after their rescue, Cleatus (along with the other survivors) was presented the Purple Heart by Admiral Spruance while in Guam recovering. The USS Indianapolis Crew was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal on the 75th Anniversary of the Sinking, in 2020," the release says.

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Following the war, Lebow returned home to Abernathy and worked for the telephone company and in various locations in that field for 35 years prior to retiring to Memphis, Texas. Lebow joined the USS Indianapolis Survivors Organization and attended many reunions through the following decades, honoring his shipmates and sharing their stories with everyone he could.

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Lebow was on hand to enjoy an evening with his fellow veterans in May at the Brothers-Sisters of Our Military Adventures' Armed Forces Day banquet after he attended a U.S.S. Indianapolis reunion in Fredericksburg. The Ussery-Roan Texas State Veterans Home in Amarillo had a quick ceremony in May to send off Lebow; with an honor escort including first responders, he traveled from Amarillo to a reunion at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg for a three-day event honoring of the bravery and sacrifices of all service members who served aboard the ill-fated USS Indianapolis.

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With Lebow's passing, there is one remaining USS Indianapolis survivor, Harold Bray, Jr. of California.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: War Memorial: Cleatus Lebow, USS Indy survivor, dies at 98