Name: Robert Arnold RUTHERFORD
Rank / Rating: RM2-Radioman Second Class
Service #: 337 90 80
DOB: Nov 08, 1923
From: Lebanon, IL
Parents: John and Esther Rutherford
Went Aboard: Oct 28, 1942
Age When Ship Went Down: 21 years, 8 months, 22 days
Spouse: None
Children: None
Grandchildren: None
Bio Submitted By: Julie Rutherford Haas (Niece)
Date Posted:

Robert Rutherford was only nineteen when he boarded Indianapolis. Read his true story as submitted by his Niece Julie Rutherford Haas. Robert Arnold Rutherford grew up in the small town of Lebanon, Illinois and had the nickname of “Red” because of his hair color. All his siblings had nicknames, and he loved his as much as they loved theirs. He talked of the Navy and always wanted to join. He finally asked his parents if they would sign for him to go in and stand watch for his country. John and Esther Rutherford finally did that signature on August 19, 1942 (his brother Duane “Nooser” Rutherford’s 7th birthday) and he was officially enlisted for a 6-year duty tour. After boot camp, he was assigned to the USS Indianapolis on October 28, 1942. He earned 1 Silver Star and 3 Bronze Stars for gallantry in combat while he participated in nine of the 10 Battles that Indy participated in. His last trip home was when a kamikaze hit the Indy, and they had to limp back to San Francisco for repairs. He did a few things in San Francisco and then came home to visit with family and friends. He left early to head back as he had a girlfriend by the name of Blanche, and he mentioned he wanted to marry her. She was his girl, and he loved her. He left for San Francisco and as I was told by my dad “Nooser” that he left his pocket watch with his mom to get it fixed as it was so sea worn and that it would no longer keep time anymore. His words were mom, please get this fixed so that when I get my next leave, I will be home to see you all and get my watch back. We still have that watch which was never repaired because they just did not have the extra money at the time. I have the watch in my possession, and it was always stuck at the same time as 2:46 am. My Dad would get it out when family got together all those years later. You could hold it, but it always was put back in this box of letters from Bobby and the telegrams the family received. One day in 2018, I asked if I could take the watch with me to the “Indianapolis Reunion”, he said he would think about it. I just wanted to show it to others as the ship was found in 2017 and it would be 73 years that this watch was left at home with my Grandparents. When it was time to go, I said, 'well can I take it?’ He said, “I guess.” I took the watch with me and my son Ryan, and we showed it to others in attendance. I still had the watch and never gave it back to my dad. I kept it in my trinket box and the next year in February of 2019 my dad passed away, so the watch became what I considered passed on to me the next generation. I got the watch out of my trinket box and looking at it close to midnight, and I was thinking about Bobby and all those men who perished and where they all were on the night of the sinking so many years ago tonight. I went to put it back in my trinket box and to my total shock the watch started moving fast and the hands were going in circles and finally it stopped at 12:17am July 30, 2019. What a sign that just sent chills down my body. Was that when he was lost? To this day, the time as 2:36 am never appeared nor any other time. This watch still rests at 12:17am. His last letter home was from July 13, 1945, which was 3 days before Indianapolis was loaded with the necessary components for an atomic bomb, including Uranium-235, the catalyst for the reaction. This mission at that time was so classified that they had no idea of the “CARGO” they were carrying. His letter ironically started out with, My Dearest Folks, just thought I had better write you a letter as you might have given me up for lost. I am not quite lost yet. (The family believed for many years that this was because after he left to see Blanche, they never heard from him until this letter.) Later in life they wondered if he had a vision of what was coming and knew that he would be lost and not return home. Information from my cousin, Beverly on how the story of the telegrams made their way from the South Pacific to the tiny town of Lebanon and she got this from her dad “Fritz” when he finally opened about their loss. Fritz said he was 14 years old and was working at the same telegraph office that Bobby once worked at delivering telegrams for ten cents each. He said he had the task of delivering all three of the telegrams to his folks. The first one was that the ship had gone down, the second that Bobby was missing and the third that he was presumed dead. She asked him what happened the day of the third telegram. He said he went to the telegraph office that morning and Mr. Abernathy told him that he had sad news to take home to his mother. He got on his bike and went to this house. He then went next door to get the neighbor lady and asked her to come with him to deliver the telegram to his mom. He said he handed his mother the telegram and she read it and yelled out, “Not my Bobby, not my Bobby” and dropped to her knees crying. She asked him what he did next, and he said he went and delivered the rest of the telegrams and Bev said that she was like “What?” and he said let me explain. "I got paid ten cents for a telegram and I would give mom half, and I needed to finish as we needed the money." The family was never the same. Rupert “Bud” Rutherford was in the Army and serving at the same time, (actually ran into each other when the Indianapolis stopped in Hawaii), Robert “Red” Rutherford the Navy, John “Muckle” the Army (he knew that Muckle was in on the shores fighting in Okinawa while the Indy was shelling from the sea behind them. That is the closest they ever were to each other while serving.) Charles “Fritz” was in the Navy, and Duane “Nooser” the Marines. My Grandparents always had a rough life, but a loving remarkably close family and they prayed every day and every year that the other boys would survive and make it home. They just knew that they could never go through this again. It was more the just not knowing how he died, or where he was at the time. It is known that he just got off his shift and that he was headed to sleep somewhere on the ship. We only came across one shipmate that knew of him, and we found out all those years he was known on the ship by “Rusty” and not “Red.” We all came to believe that he passed at the time of the torpedo explosion (s). This does not give us closure, but it helps that we feel this was instant death and not suffering through all that the others endured. God Bless All the men of The USS INDIANAPOLIS For All They Did for Their Part in Ending the War. Robert was honored in VOICES OF THE LOST AT SEA program in 2018. Click on VOICES OF THE LOST AT SEA to view from Time Stamp 27:19 - 29:29. The photo below was submitted by Larry Johnson (son of Ralph Johnson who was a former shipmate of Radioman Second Class Robert Arnold Rutherford). Robert Rutherford is the sailor pictured on the left in the photo. He was Lost at Sea as a result of the sinking of USS Indianapolis on July 30, 1945. Pictured in the middle of the group of three sailors is Radioman Third Class James Clark Davis who was also Lost at Sea with the sinking. To Davis’s left is Ralph Johnson who was a former shipmate of both men. Ralph was not onboard Indianapolis when it was sunk. This photo shows how special the Radioman shipmate friendships were. Larry Johnson shared that his father always referred to James Clark Davis as “Walter”. His father also shared with Larry that he was always referred to as “Johnny” and that Robert Arnold Rutherford was called “Rusty”. Three shipmate friends who all had nicknames!