As we approach Memorial Day, it seems only fitting to remember the family most famous for its personal loss during a war. This family happens to be from my hometown. As a native of Waterloo, Iowa, I grew up hearing the name of the "Five Sullivan Brothers" just because we had a convention center named in their honor. It wasn't until years later I realized why.
Perhaps you already know the story--these five brothers enlisted in the Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor with just one condition. They wanted to be able to serve together. They were granted their request, and served together until they all died together, as well, when the U.S.S. Juneau was torpedoed by the Japanese and sunk in November 1942.
Suddenly the Sullivan family of Waterloo, Iowa, was given the unwelcome distinction of bearing the largest single loss for a military family in history, a distinction they retain to this day.
In 2008, Waterloo opened the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum in their honor, just one portion of which lets visitors walk through a replica of the Sullivan home and flip through a scrapbook of their family photos and newspaper articles. It's an intimate family atmosphere with a crackling radio program in the background. So even though my co-author, Karen Whiting, was writing the World War 2 stories for our book, (Stories of Faith and Courage from the Home Front), she let me write this one contribution from my own hometown: Carrying On. (Read the excerpt here.)
If you're interested in the full story of the Sullivans, check out the book We Band of Brothers: The Sullivans and World War 2, or the movie, The Fighting Sullivans, made in 1944.
*To read a Memorial Day tribute from Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq & Afghanistan, click here.
Jocelyn Green
Jocelyn Green inspires faith and courage as the award-winning and bestselling author of numerous fiction and nonfiction books, including The Mark of the King; Wedded to War; and The 5 Love Languages Military Edition, which she coauthored with bestselling author Dr. Gary Chapman. Her books have garnered starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly, and have been honored with the Christy Award, the gold medal from the Military Writers Society of America, and the Golden Scroll Award from the Advanced Writers & Speakers Association. She graduated from Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, with a B.A. in English, concentration in writing. As a speaker, Jocelyn inspires faith and courage in her audiences. She loves Mexican food, Broadway musicals, strawberry-rhubarb pie, the color red, and reading with a cup of tea. Jocelyn lives with her husband Rob and two children in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Visit her at www.jocelyngreen.com.