It was such a hot night that some sailors aboard the USS Indianapolis decided to sleep on the deck. One of those sailors was Carlos LaPaglia, a Chandler native who enlisted in the Navy in 1942.
LaPaglia would later say his decision to sleep on the deck the night of July 29, 1945 saved his life.
A Japanese submarine shot two torpedoes that hit the Indianapolis, ripping a massive hole in the ship and knocking out all electrical power. LaPaglia, and others, jumped into the ocean as the ship sank…