Episode
A WWII painting sparked an unlikely friendship between an Idaho teacher and a hero’s son
- Podcast
- It's Worth Mentioning
- Published
- May 4, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2672
- Processing state
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Summary
Jess Johnson has had a meaningful long-distance friendship with a man on the other side of the country for about a year, and it all started with an inconsequential decision. The Mackay High School history teacher was traveling with his wife last summer. On a whim, they found an audiobook about the USS Indianapolis, a battle cruiser during World War II that hauled components of the atomic bomb that the United States later dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Among the 1,200 men on board was Lt. Commander Earl Henry. The Tennessee man was the ship’s dentist, but he was also a lifelong bird-lover and painter. In 1944, he painted an image of an American Eagle attacking a serpent in front of a giant American flag. The painting, titled “American Eagle in the Pacific,” is now a historic piece of art because it foreshadowed America’s victory the following year. Henry and about 300 other men were killed in August 1945 when the ship was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Before the attack, Henry shipped the painting home to his wife, which is how it survived. As Johnson heard this story, he was riveted and it inspired him to order the painting. That purchase led to a phone call that began a personal friendship with Earl Henry’s son, and a connection that extends into the lives of his students. On this episode of “It’s Worth Mentioning,” Rett Nelson sits down with Johnson in his classroom to talk about this experience. Johnson shares where his love of history began and the historical significance of the Indianapolis. He discusses Henry and his painting, his decision to buy it, the initial phone conversation with Earl Henry Jr. and how it led to a lasting friendship that is now interwoven into his classroom. We hear from some of the students later in the show, and Earl Henry Jr. joins us…