“There aren’t too many times when the word ‘hero’ is appropriately used. Heroes are people who do extraordinary things in the service of others. Edgar Harrell is a true American hero.”

—Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, host of national television and radio shows, and bestselling author

“Out of the Depths is a remarkably moving, moment by moment account of the valor, sacrifice, and faith of the crew aboard the USS Indianapolis. David Harrell honors his father, Edgar Harrell, a soft-spoken, reflective veteran of that heroic tragedy, by relating his father’s story. As I tried to do in my own book, When Hell Was in Session, Mr. Harrell splices and binds the connection and interdependence between courage in the face of death and spiritual faith.

“The saying ‘there are no atheists in foxholes’ may indeed be a cliché, but it bears more than a kernel of truth. This book makes clear there aren’t many atheists, either, in the middle of the Pacific, when your ship is thousands of feet below you, sharks are tugging at your shipmates’ legs in the middle of the night, and you are imploring the sailor clinging to you, whom you met for the first time minutes after the explosion, to keep breathing and hanging onto the flotsam for just a little longer—that is, to have the faith to survive.

“It is a harrowing account of the sacrifice of sailors and Marines who fought and died for their country, so we could live. It is a story you should not and will not ever forget.”

—Jeremiah A. Denton Jr., RAdm, USN (Ret.)

“I am deeply grateful to Edgar Harrell and the United States Marine Corps. If our nation needs anything at this moment, it is the boost of stories of heroism, courage, and faith. Harrell’s unique description of being aboard the torpedoed Indianapolis in wartime and his experiences with the treacheries of the deep make an incomparable read. Brimmed full of illustrations of God’s graciousness and goodness even amidst incredible suffering, Out of the Depths ought to be read by every serious American.”

—Paige Patterson, President, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary