The Battle of Guadalcanal was one of the most representative campaigns in the Pacific theater
during World War II.
Many brave soldiers lost their lives for the sake of their country, but no family made
as big a sacrifice as the Sullivans.
Five brothers from a typical Irish Catholic family from Waterloo, Iowa, resolved to stick
together and join the Navy, eventually serving in the American light cruiser USS Juneau.
On November 13, 1942, the Japanese attempted to recapture the Solomon Islands in what became
one of the most brutal naval battles of the war.
As a Japanese destroyer torpedoed USS Juneau, only 10 out of 700 sailors survived.
Tom Sullivan was preparing for work one morning when three officers approached him.
He asked which of his sons had perished, to which the officer replied: (QUOTE) "I'm sorry.
All five."
Brothers
George, Francis, Joseph, Madison, and Albert Sullivan enlisted in the US Navy on January
3, 1942, a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The Navy usually separated siblings, but George, the oldest brother, wrote to the Secretary
of the Navy requesting special permission.
The request was granted, and the brothers were able to serve together.
The Sullivans were a typical Irish Catholic family from Waterloo, Iowa.
George and Frank had both previously served in the military.
George was a Gunner’s Mate second class, while Frank was a Coxswain.
Joe, Matt, and Al would be serving for the first time as Seaman second class.
Aside from the Sullivans, the drafting of brothers Joseph, Patrick, Louis and James
from New Haven, Connecticut, served as a valuable public relations campaign when the Navy was
most in need of new recruits.
The Sullivans and the Rogers were all assigned to USS Juneau, a light and fast cruiser with
an extraordinary amount of ammunition and fuel.
Still, it had a thin skin, and Captain Lyman Swenson was actually concerned about the safety
of his crew.
The Atlanta-class cruiser was specialized in anti-aircraft warfare but would perform
poorly against surface vessels.
During its first months of service, the brand-new Juneau remained out of combat in the Caribbean
and the Atlantic.
It then headed to the southwestern Pacific in August of 1942.
By early November, the ship took part in its first battle.
The altercation was brutal, and the Rogers decided to split up.
James and Joseph were transferred, and the former later pointed out that the Sullivans
were planning to do the same during the next resupply: (QUOTE) “They just never got back.”
Defending the Islands
The Guadalcanal Campaign began in August of 1942.
By November, the Allies were already in control of Guadalcanal and its pivotal Henderson Field
Air Base.
On November 12, Allied pilots reported a mighty Japanese fleet coming from the north.
It was the Tokyo Express, a 17-ship force aiming to bombard the air base.
Thirteen American ships then formed a battle line to halt the enemy’s advance.
USS Juneau was one of the ships in formation.
It had arrived in the area to support the incoming army troops sent to relieve the exhausted
Marines on land.
As the battle began, a Japanese destroyer fired a torpedo towards the Juneau, which
hit its forward engine room.
The missile took out the steering and gun, damaged the keel, and jammed the propellers.
Captain Swenson gave orders to withdraw and head for open waters.
The next morning, on November 13, 1942, the remaining five surviving ships approached
Juneau.
Four of them were severely damaged, the worst being Flagship USS San Francisco.
The Juneau’s crew provided help and medical aid.
Despite the losses and considerable casualties, the American forces had succeeded in defending
the air base in the Solomon Islands.
A Fatal Attack
As the Juneau, Helena, and San Francisco cruisers headed to Espíritu Santo for repairs, the
Japanese submarine I-26 launched two torpedoes.
They were intended for San Francisco, but they missed.
Instead, one of them flew by and struck Juneau in the same place it was hit the night before.
A massive explosion with lots of smoke ensued, and the ship disappeared within seconds.
An officer aboard one of the other vessels said: (QUOTE) “It is certain that all on
board perished.
Nothing could be seen in the water when the smoke lifted.”
Fearing a subsequent attack, the standing ships quickly fled the scene and continued
their way to Espíritu Santo.
Captain Gilbert Hoover was now in charge of USS Helena.
He then signaled a US B-17 bomber to notify headquarters and send search patrols to look
for possible survivors.
However, the pilot could not break radio silence and give away their position, so the message
wasn’t relaid until hours later upon touching ground.
The report then got mixed with other paperwork, and nothing was done for days.
Other pilots reported seeing men in rafts, and it was later estimated that there had
been at least 100 survivors at the time of the explosion.
Seven days after the sinking, Hoover finally reported to Admiral William F. Halsey.
The Admiral was furious, pointing out that radio silence should have been broken.
Hoover was subsequently stripped of his command.
By the time rescue operations were launched, it was too late.
On November 20, USS Ballard rescued two survivors.
Three others made it to San Cristóbal Island.
And five men were found in a raft.
The aircraft who spotted them dropped a life jacket with some chocolates, tin cans, and
a note that read: (QUOTE) “Cheer up lads and sit tight.”
The Sullivans’ Fate
Some of the survivors reported that Frank, Joe, and Matt Sullivan had perished in the
explosion and that Al drowned the next day.
But George had survived for several days, going from raft to raft looking for his brothers.
One witness said George was in absolute despair and looked as if he was suffering from delirium
as a result of hypernatremia.
The open waters had been unforgiving.
The extent of the loss was hidden from the public, careful not to provide valuable information
to the enemy.
Still, Alleta Sullivan suspected something was wrong as she stopped receiving letters
from her sons.
Alleta then wrote to the Bureau of Naval Personnel in January of 1943: (QUOTE) “I hated to
bother you but it has worried me so that I wanted to know if it was true so please tell
me.
It was hard to give five sons all at once to the Navy, but I’m so proud of my boys.”
The Sullivans officially learned of their sons’ fate on January 12.
President Roosevelt later replied to the grieving mother’s letter offering his heartfelt condolences:
(QUOTE) “As Commander in Chief of the Army and the Navy, I want you to know the entire
nation shares your sorrow.
I offer you the condolence and gratitude of our country.
We, who remain to carry on the fight, must maintain the spirit in the knowledge that
such sacrifice is not in vain.”
Legacy
After the tragedy of the Sullivan brothers and following similar cases, the US War Department
introduced the Sole Survivor Policy, which enlisted a series of regulations designed
for families who had lost family members in military service.
It was enacted as law in 1948.
The Sullivan brothers left a sister behind, as well as Al’s son, Jimmy.
Their parents Tom and Alleta gave tours and speeches for months on behalf of the war effort.
They then received five purple hearts and were assured that: (QUOTE) “The navy is
as proud of the Sullivan parents as it is of the Sullivan boys.”
Even Pope Pius XII awarded them with a silver religious medal and a rosary.
Alleta Sullivan was also present in the launching of the destroyer USS The Sullivans, named
after her sons, and Al’s granddaughter, Kelly Ann, christened a second vessel named
after the brothers.
Both ships carried the motto “We Stick Together.”
A museum wing in their hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, was named in their honor.
A 1944 movie called ‘The Fighting Sullivans’ portrayed their story, and it is said that
their story influenced, in part, the 1998 film ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ in which they
are briefly mentioned.
The five brothers became a symbol of sacrifice and community.
Their only descendant, Jim Sullivan, recalled how they inspired him to enlist in the Navy.
He sustained that: (QUOTE) “It’s not only my dad and my uncles, there were a lot of
sailors in World War II that lost their life.
[...] We should remember all of them.”
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