If there were ever a course of heartbreaking events, that would merit a monumental tragic story, it would be the story of the Sullivan Brothers-Albert, Francis, Joseph, George and Madison, ages 20-27, from Waterloo, Iowa, who bravely joined the U.S. Navy in 1942, after being inspired to take action and fight for their country after Pearl Harbor in 1941. The brothers enlisted, but they did so under one condition: that they would be allowed to serve together on the same ship under the motto "We stick together." For some reason, Navy policy against numerous family members serving together was ignored and the Sullivan brothers were allowed to serve on the USS Juneau.
On November 13th, 1942, The USS Juneau was bombed and sunk by a Japanese sub during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, and the five brothers all perished in the watery depths of the Pacific. This was the greatest military loss for one American family in WWII. The US Navy commissioned a ship to be named in honor of the fallen brothers...USS The Sullivans.
The story doesn't end there. History has it that another ship, the USS Helena, and her officers were skeptical that anyone had survived the sinking of the Juneau and didn't want to expose their already wounded ship to the still lurking Japanese sub. Approximately 100 of Juneau's crew did in fact survive the attack of their sinking ship, but were left in the water. Believe it or not, because of lack of immediate reporting of the incident and a mix up of paperwork, it was not until days later that headquarters realized that a search had never been conducted and at that time an aircraft was sent to search the area.
It was too late however, for most of the crew, who were mortally wounded and were exposed to the elements, hunger, thirst and repeated shark attacks. A full eight days after the bombing, ten survivors were found. The survivors reported that Francis, Madison, and Joseph died instantly, and Al drowned the next day. George, the oldest, was left alone, mortally wounded, clinging to life afloat a small raft in shark infested Pacific waters for four to five days. The men could hear him moaning, crying out "Al, are you there? Frank...where are you? Red...Matt, please answer me!? Apparently he drifted on, hypothermic and delirious, slowly going mad from grief at the loss of his brothers, eventually going over the side of the raft, never to be seen or heard from again.
At home, after letters stopped from the Sullivan boys, their parents grew worried. On January 12th, 1943, three men approached their front door and said "I have some news for you about your boys." Thomas, the boy's father nervously asked "Which one?" The naval officer answered "All five."
It is believed that George Sullivan still haunts the vessel that carries his family name and he still wanders the ship searching for his lost brothers. The most paranormal activity on this ship occurred in the late 80's after the ship was moved from PA to Buffalo, NY. Many unexplained events have happened on the ship including a wrench and paint can flying across the room, sounds of whispers and men playing cards, hazy apparitions, sometimes five in number and once a security guard was even knocked unconscious.
As we continued to read about the USS The Sullivans this morning, the kids and I decided that we would go there. We were on the edge of our seats as we read the story and legends of this magnificent ship and the dreadful circumstances that befell it. Apparently, a man named Eddie Kirkwood was a security guard there for many years and I was curious to see if he was still there. I wanted to talk to him. I called the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park and asked if he still worked there and they hung up on me without a word. I called again, and got the same response. It was very strange to me.
The story of the Sullivan brothers is unbelievably touching and incredibly interesting, and one whose family motto was "We stick together." We can learn from this family, who lived and died together in unity. There is so much more to this astonishing story of family togetherness and bravery that takes you right into the scene. You can find that here:
http://www.homeofheroes.com/brotherhood/sullivans.html
I did find this movie online about the brothers if you are interested in learning more about them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBssrsmuW1A
To see USS The Sullivans and two other historic ships, USS Little Rock and USS Croaker in Buffalo, NY, you can go to the website here:
http://www.buffalonavalpark.org/
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