The Five Brothers Who Died Serving in the Navy Together
The Sullivan brothers and their legacy
On November 13th, 1942, a torpedo struck the USS-Juneau (CL-52), carrying a crew of 700, during the naval battle of Guadalcanal in the pacific theater. Aboard were the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa.
The USS-Juneau, an already damaged light cruiser, exploded, killing most of the crew instantly. According to a post on the official blog of the Naval History and Heritage(NHHC), due to the circumstances of the battle, of the about 115 crew members that survived the initial blast, only ten were rescued from the water.
According to an article by Pat Kinney of The Courier, Lester Zook, one of the ten survivors, recalled George Sullivan on his liferaft after the ship exploded. He was calling out to his brothers with no avail. It is likely the four others had already drowned or succumbed to wounds from the explosion.
Another survivor referenced by Kinney, Al Heyn, said after a few days, George, who was delirious, swam beyond the life rafts and was taken by sharks. All five of the Sullivan brothers perished.
For me, it is paralyzing to think of what George might have been going through mentally. Adding to the trauma of the explosion itself was that all four of his brothers were dead…
