SPECIAL PUBLICATION | NOVEMBER 10, 2017
SULLIVAN BROTHERS THE
75TH COMMEMORATION A FAMILY’S SACRIFICE
COURTESY PHOTO
The five Sullivan brothers — from left, Joseph, Francis, Albert, Madison and George — before the USS Juneau left New York in 1942.
Brothers in arms Remembering the five Sullivan brothers, 75 years later
PAT KINNEY
W
pat.kinney@wcfcourier.com
ATERLOO — Maybe they were brash. Maybe they were foolhardy. Maybe they were just five more victims in a war with hundreds of millions of victims. But maybe, George, Francis, Joseph, Madison and Albert Sullivan were heroes as well.
Heroic enough for not one, but two U.S. Navy destroyers to bear their name. Heroic enough to inspire legendary film director Steven Speilberg to create a 1998 Academy Award-winning movie, “Saving Private Ryan,” and acknowledge their sacrifice when accepting an Oscar for best director. Heroic enough for their hometown library, museum and newspaper to receive inquiries from around the country and around
the world. In short, heroic enough to be remembered 75 years after a torpedo slammed into the magazine of the USS Juneau in the South Pacific, taking all five Sullivans and nearly all their 700 shipmates — and tragic enough for their lone offspring to lament not only over the loss of his Please see SULLIVANS, Page D8
Living legacy PAT KINNEY
pat.kinney@wcfcourier.com
WATERLOO – You don’t need to tell any member of the Sullivan family that life is to be cherished. The surviving family members and descendants of George, Francis, Joseph, Madison and Albert Sullivan know that so well. It’s a lesson they have lived with. It’s a lesson passed down over the past 75
Family still grieves, reflects on memories, lessons
years, since the five brothers perished together in World War II when their ship, the USS Juneau, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sunk during World War II. Jim Sullivan, 76, is the son of Albert Sullvan, the youngest of the brothers and the only one who married. Jim was a year and a half old when his father and uncles died. He Please see LEGACY, Page D8
The surviving local family members and descendants of Waterloo’s five Sullivan brothers killed during World War II stand in front of statues of the brothers at the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum in Waterloo in October. Pictured in front, from left, are Jim Sullivan, son of Albert Sullivan, youngest of the brothers; and Jim’s daughter Kelly Sullivan; and back row, from left, Murray and Tom Davidson, sons of Genevieve Sullivan Davidson, the sister of the five brothers. BRANDON POLLOCK, COURIER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Gold Stars
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Gold Star flags/banners were first flown by families during World War I. The flag included a blue star for every immediate family member serving in the armed forces of the United States, during any period of war or hostilities in which the armed forces were engaged. If that loved one died, the blue star was replaced by a gold star. This allowed members of the community to know the price the family had paid in the cause of freedom.
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Source: U.S. Army 00 1
Declassified U.S. Navy documents, including the official battle report
of the sinking of the USS Juneau, the official survivor report and more
Archived historic Courier news articles and front pages about the
Sullivan family
Additional historic photos