50th Anniversary of the Five Sullivan Brothers Passing

USPS between 1991 till 1995 issued a series of WWII souvenir sheets marking the 50th anniversary of WWII.

What makes this WWII issue unique is not so much the stamp but rather the cachet and postmark. It honours The Five Sullivan Brothers and their home town Iowa on the 50th anniversary of their death. Unfortunately this cachet was water damaged when I received it and without the promised stamp.

Who were the Sullivan Brothers? Personally, I had no idea who these men were until the 30th or 35th anniversary of their passing. They were featured on a news show one morning as my mother watched the report. She broke down in tears, having remembered the event, and which I suppose for her generation was a great tragedy. And it was -- 5 sons lost!!!

For those not aware of their story, the Five Sullivan Brothers were World War II sailor brothers of Irish American descent who, serving together on the light cruiser USS Juneau, were all killed in action in and shortly after its sinking around 13 November 1942.

- The brothers' story was filmed as a 1944 movie The Sullivans (later renamed The Fighting Sullivans) and inspired, at least in part, the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan. The Sullivans were also briefly mentioned in Saving Private Ryan.

- As a direct result of the Sullivans' deaths (and the deaths of four of the Borgstrom brothers within a few months of each other two years later), the U.S. War Department adopted the Sole Survivor Policy.

- A museum wing was built in honour of their service in World War II. The museum is located in downtown Waterloo, Iowa, their hometown. It was completed in 2008. The grand opening occurred on 15 November 2008.

- The Navy named two destroyers The Sullivans to honour the brothers: USS The Sullivans (DD-537) and USS The Sullivans (DDG-68). DD-537 was the first American Navy ship ever named after more than one person. The motto for both ships was/is "We stick together."

- Al Sullivan's son (one of the brothers who died) served on board the first USS The Sullivans. His grandmother christened the first ship. The second USS The Sullivans was christened by Al's granddaughter Kelly Ann Sullivan Loughren.

Source: Wikipedia