![]() 11/13/2017 at 10:13 • Filed to: None | ![]() | ![]() |
L-R: Joe, Frank, Al, Matt (Madison), and George Sullivan on the Juneau.
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , George, Francis, Joseph, Madison, and Albert, were killed when the light cruiser they were all serving aboard, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , was sunk.
Their deaths prompted the U.S. War Department to institute the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which is intended to protect members of a family from the draft or combat duty if they have already lost family members in service. This policy was part of the inspiration for the landmark film, Saving Private Ryan .
The Navy also named two destroyers The Sullivans after the brothers (DD-537 and DDG-68).
The Sullivans were from Waterloo, Iowa, which is right next to my hometown of Cedar Falls. Members of their family still live in the area, and in 2008, a museum was opened in their honor in Waterloo.
The band Caroline’s Spine released a song about the brothers in 1995.
![]() 11/13/2017 at 10:59 |
|
Yet another tragic incident that I first learned about from a song.