The Saber and Scroll
average , working-class kids ,” observes Satterfield , “ they reflected the values of a tough neighborhood in a town that offered scant privileges to its residents .” 3 “ They did not get into any more trouble than anyone else ,” recalls Phyllis Elderidge-Friesner in a 1989 phone interview with Satterfield . 4 Former Waterloo resident S . G . Heronimus remembers the boys differently , however : “ They were all fighters . They took and gave no shit .” 5 True to their creed , a scrap with any Sullivan brother inevitably led to a contest with all five .
One incident on the Cedar River cemented the brothers ’ solidarity . While paddling a dilapidated rowboat downstream , the craft began to take on water . Four of the five boys jumped out and swam to the shore , but Albert , still a toddler , had to be rescued as the water lapped over the gunwales . Only quick-acting adults , who rescued Albert from the sinking craft , averted a tragedy . Afterward , the boys swore , “ We stick together .” This motto became the creed that defined the brothers ’ relationship .
In 1937 , George and Frank enlisted in the military to escape the monotony of the American Midwest . The two accepted the challenge to join the Navy and see the world . The pair served together on an old four-stack destroyer , a customary practice in the peacetime Navy , until honorably discharged in 1940 .
After the attack on Pearl Harbor , the boys met to discuss their options . Unanimously they decided to enlist in the Navy , but not solely based on patriotic sentiments or the older brother ’ s
Navy experience . The Sullivans wished to avenge the deaths of their childhood friends Bill and Masten Ball , also Waterloo residents , both of whom died aboard the battleship USS Arizona . George , always the leader , prophetically announced the decision to their anxious parents by saying , “ Well , guess our minds are made up , aren ’ t they fellows ? And when we go in , we want to go together . If the worst comes to worst , why we ’ ll all have gone down together .” 6
A few days later , the boys marched into the local Navy recruiting office to enlist and made serving together a requirement for their enlistment . The Navy challenged this condition but relented after George wrote a letter of protest to the Navy Department . Al , married with a son named Jim , was eligible for a deferment , but he followed his brothers into the service with his wife ’ s blessing . Katherine “ Kena ” ( Sullivan ) MacFarland ( b . 1922 ), who passed away in 2016 at the age of ninety-three , said , “ Albert would have been unhappy if all the other Sullivans had gone to war , but he had stayed at home .” 7
After basic training at Great Lakes Naval Training Center , the brothers became able seamen in the US Navy . George and Frank were rated Gunners and Coxswain Mates 2nd-Class , respectively , because of their previous service , but new to the Navy , Red , Matt , and Al were all rated Seaman 2nd-Class . The five then traveled to the Brooklyn Naval Yard and joined up with their ship , the USS Juneau ( CL-52AA ) being fitted-out in Kearny , New Jersey , at the Federal Shipyard and Drydock Company .
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