by J C Sullivan, Ohio, USA
December 7, 1941 was the "day that will live in infamy," the Japanese bombing of the US Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. "I remember I was crying a little," Aletta Abel Sullivan said, as reported in the Waterloo Sunday Courier. "Then George said, 'Well, I guess our minds are made up, aren't they fellows? And, when we go in, we want to go in together. If the worst comes to the worst, why we'll all have gone down together.'" Serving together in the US Navy became a term of the brothers' enlistment. Both Gunner's Mate George Sullivan, 27, and Coxswain Francis Sullivan, 25, had four years of prior Navy service. Joe (Red), 23, Matt, 22 and Al., 19, became seamen, second class, when they enlisted and were assigned to the new $13,000,000 light cruiser, Juneau, the first American war ship commissioned in camouflage. Nine months later, during the Battle of Guadacanal, near the Solomon Islands, she was steaming toward base when an explosion sent her to the bottom. Later reports said she'd been torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. On January 12, 1943 the headlines of the Waterloo Daily Courier screamed SULLIVANS MISSING.
"It just happened all at once and the Juneau was gone," reported an officer who witnessed it from another ship "One of the most extraordinary tragedies which has ever been met by any family in the United States.," spoke Henry A. Wallace, Vice President of the United States, referring to the sinking.
The Navy issued a statement: "Loss of the five Sullivan brothers ranks as the greatest single blow suffered by any one family since Pearl Harbor and probably in American Naval history. In peacetime the Navy has allowed brothers to serve together but in wartime it has been Navy policy to separate members of the same family. Presence of the five Sullivans aboard the USS Juneau was at the insistence of the brothers themselves and in contradiction to the repeated recommendations of the ship's executive officer. Serving together had been one condition of their enlistment."
The lads were the sons of Thomas F and Aletta Sullivan., 98 Adams Street. Mr Sullivan, named after his Irish-born grandfather, was born in Harpers Ferry, Dubuque County, Iowa. The family were parishioners at St. Mary's Church. A sister, Genevieve, survived them. Al was the only brother to marry. In February, 1941, his wife Katherine bore him a son, James T., who lives today in Waterloo. Quite naturally, he is a Navy veteran. In their honor a U S Naval Destroyer was named 'The Sullivans'. It earned nine battle stars in the Pacific and two battle stars for action in Korea. The 3760foot, 2,050 ton destroyer has since been decommissioned and in 1977 was dedicated as part of the Naval and Servicemen's Park, Buffalo, New York. Attending the dedication was James Sullivan, his spouse Sally, and their two children, John and Kelly. The ship had been towed from Philadelphia, manned by volunteer crews and financed with a $250,000 state grant to Buffalo's Urban Renewal Agency.
In Iowa a memorial was constructed at Waterloo's 8-acre Sullivan Brothers Memorial Park, Fourth and Adams Street, in which the family homesite is incorporated. It honors the five Sullivan brothers and all of America's fighting men who die in the cause of freedom throughout the world. A pentagonal concrete dais topped with a circular polished granite base supports a bronze shamrock, insignia from the destroyer USS The Sullivans. Today, the Five Sullivan Brothers AOH Division 1 in Waterloo holds an annual ceremony at Sullivan Park following St Patrick's Day Mass.
On April 17, 1997 Kelly Ann Sullivan Loughren, the granddaughter of Albert and the daughter of James and Sally Sullivan, will be present at Stapleton Pier, Staten Island New York for the formal commissioning in the US Navy of the second The Sullivans (DDG68). Kelly is a schoolteacher at Saint Patrick's Catholic School in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Arleigh Burke Class destroyer, with a crew of 26 officers and 315 sailors, will be commanded by Commander Gerard D. Roncolato. Last year Commander Roncolato visited Waterloo.
The commissioning week schedule of events begins with the arrival of the ship in the vicinity of Verrazano Narrows Bridge on Monday April 14, 1997. New York Stadium will host Sullivans Day beginning at 7:30pm. On April 17th from 2 - 6:30pm there will be Sullivans Day at Manhattan's Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum (NLUS). Sullivan/O'Sullivan families or those with the bloodline are encouraged to turnout.
The formal and colorful commissioning ceremony, Saturday, at 11am (invitation only) will culminate with the invocation of the ship's spirit, followed by a Post Commissioning Reception at Stapleton Pier. There will be general ship visiting all afternoon. Navy and Civilian VIP's will be on hand, along with Newport Navy Band. An AOH contingent from the Waterloo, Iowa Five Sullivan Brothers Division #1 will be present, lead by Mike Magee. On Sunday, April 20, there will be general visiting of the ship from 1 - 4pm.
One-Time Rights to Mayo Alive
Copyright © 1997 J C Sullivan, 9240 Milford Dr, Northfield, OH 44067
Sullivan
No comments:
Post a Comment