Huntington College News Release
Contact John W. Paff, Public Relations Director (260) 359-4048 or 358-7074
Huntington College Foundation plans Veterans Day breakfast
FOR RELEASE November 4, 1998
HUNTINGTON, IN— The Huntington College Foundation will host its next monthly breakfast on Veterans Day, November 11, 1998. Dennis L. Covert, a former naval officer, will paint a historical picture of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis.
The public is cordially invited to attend. Breakfast will be served at 7:45 a.m. in the Habecker Dining Commons. The program will conclude by 9:00 a.m. The cost of the breakfast is $5 per person. First-time guests are not charged.
USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was commissioned in 1932. The ship served with distinction in the Pacific theater throughout World War II. Only two weeks before the end of the war, on July 30, 1945, while sailing from Guam to Leyte, Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. The ship capsized and sank in twelve minutes. Survivors were spotted by a patrol aircraft on August 2. Of a crew of 1,199, rescue efforts recovered 316 men. Survivors have erected a memorial in downtown Indianapolis at the north end of the Canal Walk.
"My interest in the USS Indianapolis stems from my own service time in the USS Saint Paul (CA-73)," Covert explained. He served as a petty officer aboard the heavy cruiser in 1968 and 1969. He made four voyages across the Pacific and participated in Vietnam operations.
After Covert left active service in 1969, he attended Ball State University. He graduated in February 1973 with a degree in business administration and marketing. Soon after, he began a career with Merrill Lynch as a certified financial manager and registered investment advisor. He presently serves Merrill Lynch as Vice President and Financial Consultant in Fort Wayne’s Private Client Group.
In 1997, Covert served as a historical consultant to MPH Entertainment of Studio City, California for their production of a film documentary about the USS Indianapolis which appeared on the A&E network. He appeared on-camera in the film as a naval historian. Covert also served as an advisor to Pangolin Pictures of New York City in the production of another film documentary about the USS Indianapolis, which was shown on The Discovery Channel.
Covert currently serves as the historian for the USS Saint Paul Association and as editor of the Association's quarterly newsletter, The Roving Saint.
For more information about the Huntington College Foundation’s breakfast series, please call Kay Schwob at (260) 359-4089 or visit http://www.huntington.edu/people/foundation.html.
# # #