John Melvin Anunti
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Navy
ANUNTI, John Melvin
John Melvin Anunti was born on January 1st 1925 to John Abiel & Hilda [Tuikka] Anunti in Duluth, Minnesota. He went to Duluth Central High School.
Mr. Anunti registered for service on January 4th 1943 during World War II. His enlistment date was May 23rd 1943. He was assigned to the U.S. Navy onboard the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) on September 1st 1943. He rose to the rank of Machinist 2nd Class (M2c).
The USS Indianapolis epic story is that In July of 1945 it is in San Francisco harbor being loaded with a mysterious cargo. The USS Indianapolis was on a top - secret mission of delivering parts of the "Little Boy" atomic bomb to the island of Tinian. On August 6th “Little Boy” is dropped over the City of Hiroshima, Japan ushering in the Atomic Age.
After dropping off the Bomb in Tinian, the Indianapolis sailed to Guam and then to the Philippines but it was hit with two torpedoes on the night of July 30th and it sunk in 12 minutes. Of the crew of 1,196 onboard, 900 made it into the Pacific Ocean. M2c Anunti was one of 316 who survived shark infested water for 5 days awaiting rescue. The mission was so to-secret that they were not reported overdue for a week. Only by chance does a Navy pilot notice hundreds of men bobbing in the water for 4+ days and radios for assistance.
It is the biggest disaster in U.S. Naval history although largely overshadowed by the very Bomb that they had just unloaded days before at Tinian.
M2c Anunti was honorably discharged on March 23rd 1946 with a Purple Heart. After the war he returned home and married Kathleen Ann [Schiel] and they started a family.
Mr. Anunti died on October 23rd 1999 in Littleton, Colorado at 74 years of age. He is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Duluth, Minnesota. He also honored at the USS Indianapolis Memorial in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Albert J. Amatuzio Research Center | Veterans Memorial Hall (vets-hall.org)
Page 141 WWII Navy Muster Rolls - Fold3
John Melvin Anunti (1925-1999) - Find a Grave Memorial
U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 - Ancestry.com
