Jerome Henderson Swindell was born May 29, 1920 in Fort Smith, Ar. to Wade Henderson & Evie Lena Gibson Swindell. Feb 1, 1941 in Joplin, Missouri, Jerome married Violet Louise Belt of Van Buren, Crawford Co., Ar. On 1 Jul 1941 Jerome filled out a registration for the draft. He enlisted in the US Navy and was assigned as a Fireman 2nd Class on the USS Indianapolis (CA-35). (A Fireman 2nd Class would work on the ship's engines and their auxiliary machinery, ensuring they ran correctly and performing maintenance.) F2 Jerome Swindell was reported missing in action or lost at sea in Waters off Guam, Philippine Sea and declared dead on July 30, 1945. The USS Indianapolis, a U.S. Navy heavy cruiser was sunk by a Japanese submarine on July 30, 1945, shortly after delivering the internal components of the atomic bombs that were later dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. The Navy only learned of the sinking four days later, when survivors were spotted by the crew of a PV-1 Ventura on routine patrol. Only 316 survived. The ship sank in 12 minutes. The sinking of Indianapolis resulted in the greatest single loss of life at sea, from a single ship, in the history of the US Navy. There is a Monument for the missing at Fort William Mckinley, Manila, the Philippines Purple Heart Medals were awarded the dead and missing of this ship.