[Dick Bachert]

Sad that it was The Sullivans. For those who don't know the story: As the America I served in uniform for 4 years in the early Vietnam era sinks closer to abandoning the ideals, values and freedoms we all take for granted and for which so many have struggled and died defending here and abroad, I'm reminded that we're in this mess because so many have never learned or just forgotten that freedom is anything but free. It is HARD – and too often DEADLY -- WORK.

As I searched for a photo in my computer library recently, an image jumped off the screen at me and brought to mind a personal incident highlighting our current problem and, not incidentally, reminding us that July 4th is not just about hot dogs and beer. We should pay homage to men such as these each and every day.

I awoke one morning during a 2005 cruise as we pulled into Nassau and looked out the porthole to see two US Arleigh Burke class destroyers next to us. After breakfast, I strolled out onto deck 7 and got goose bumps when I noticed the shamrock on the stack of one of them. Thinking I knew what boat she was, I walked aft to catch a view of the transom of that boat. I was right. It was the USS “THE SULLIVANS!" The goose bumps intensified as I recalled the story of the five Sullivan brothers who INSISTED that they be allowed to serve together and, persisting in the face of a naval regulation prohibiting it, were assigned to the USS Juneau when she was sunk on November 13, 1942 at Guadalcanal. 4 boys died instantly and the 5th son died at sea either from his injuries, a shark attack or exposure.

THEIR MOTHER RECEIVED ALL 5 TELEGRAMS FROM THE NAVY ON THE SAME DAY!!!!

I related the story to several of those on deck with me who were also checking out the destroyers. I was greeted with BLANK STARES of disinterest. I wanted to grab one guy by the stacking swivel, hoist him off the deck and scream that it was men and ships such as that which make it possible for A**HOLES like him to enjoy a peaceful cruise around the Caribbean. Not wishing to spend the rest of the voyage in the brig, I contented myself with muttering "a**hole" as he wandered off in search of another buffet.

And in a sign of the times, both ships had armed sentries posted fore and aft in Nassau, an ostensibly friendly and safe port. But then, Aden was also considered safe at the time the USS Cole (also a Burke class destroyer) was attacked. And I believe that, unlike the guards on the Cole -- and the Marine sentries in Beirut years earlier -- THESE guys were locked and loaded with orders to fire for effect!

[aposiopetic]

Thanks for that post.

[VikingMom]

Thank you for your service and also for your amazing tribute. The Sullivans were my grandmother's cousins so the story has special significance to my family!

[max americana]

That’s a great pic and thanks for the story.

[Vigilanteman]

Splendid post. I had heard that story before from my father who also served in the U.S. Navy during the Pacific War. Dad could not relate that story without getting teary-eyed. Thanks for the reminder.

[liberty or death]

I am the father of 5. I cannot nor can my lovely bride, insert into our adult children the brutal sacrifices made to put them in the privelidged position they now live in.

History repeats because it is forgotten. Not even video can make them understand the horror of wars fought to give them what they have. What they take for granted and normal.

[dixiechick2000]

Thank you so much for your touching post. I know how hard it was for you to mumble an expletive, and then walk away.

My husband served in the Navy during Viet Nam. Though he had considered himself to be career Navy, he resigned his commission 1976 because they were so PC, even back then. We have both come to realize that they are probably the most PC branch of the military.

Sad...

[tanknetter]

Respectfully, I really dislike that top painting. The cruiser represented at the top is NOT the USS Juneau, which was an Atlanta-class light anti-aircraft cruiser (so had three dual 5” turrets forward, rather than the two triple 8” turrets shown on the ship in the painting).

[Scoutmaster]

Thank you for your post on the Sullivan brothers. I'd get shivers down my spine and a tear in my eye if I saw U.S.S. The Sullivans.

I first learned about them as an insomniatic youth, watching The Fighting Sullivans (1944) on television in the middle of the night.

It's interesting for a war movie, in that almost all of the movie concentrates on the boys as they grow up together and become young men.

The deaths of the Sullivans partly inspired "Saving Private Ryan," and is the subject of the song "Sullivan" by the band Caroline's Spine. The band was offered a chance to play the song on the U.S.S. Enterprise in 1998.

Finally, there's a Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum in Waterloo, Iowa.

[Stonewall Jackson]

The original USS The Sullivans, a veteran of World War Two and Korea, is a museum ship in Buffalo. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend stopping by to pay your respects. She is docked alongside the gun/missile cruiser USS Little Rock.

As an interesting aside, the new The Sullivans was very nearly attacked by Al-Qaeda on January 3, 2000 in Port Aden, Yemen. Fortunately, the small boat was so overladen with explosives that it sank. Ten months later, using a smaller amount of explosives, these terrorists launched their infamous attack on the USS Cole.