Sullivan brothers were five American sailors who lost their lives in World War II when their ship was torpedoed on the morning of Nov. 13, 1942. The tragedy was heightened because the United States government was supposed to avoid assigning more than one member of a family to the same military unit.
The Sullivan brothers were born in Waterloo, Iowa. The brothers were George (1914 -1942), Francis (1916-1942), Joseph (1918-1942), Madison (1919-1942) , and Albert (1922-1942). George and Francis had served in the Navy from 1937 to 1941. All five men enlisted on Jan. 3, 1942, after a friend had died at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
The five brothers were assigned to USS Juneau. The ship was struck twice by Japanese torpedoes during the naval battle of Guadalcanal. The second hit caused Juneau to explode and sink, killing all but 10 of the nearly 700-person crew, including the five Sullivan brothers.
