Mitt Romney made the news with his answer to Rachel Griffiths’ question ( http://www.dailykos.com/... ) about how his sons were supporting the nation’s war on terror when none of them, although eligible, are members of the armed forces. Briefly, Romney said that his sons are their own men with their own choices but that they do show their support by helping his election campaign. The argument has also been made ( http://www.dailykos.com/... ) that the question itself was unfair because the sons are not the ones running for president.
However, long ago and far away (at least, culturally speaking) there was another man with five sons, and there was a terrible war at that time, too.
Thomas Sullivan lived in Waterloo, Iowa and had five sons: George, Frank, Joe, Matt, and Al. The brothers’ friend, Al Ball, was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at the beginning of World War II and all five brothers enlisted in the Navy on January 3, 1942. George and Frank had already served in the Navy and plainly the family had extremely close ties; the brothers opted to serve on the same ship. This was not prohibited policy, although it was discouraged for obvious reasons.
The Sullivans were posted to the Light Cruiser Juneau. The Juneau was involved in the campaign at Guadalcanal as part of a Navy task force sent to resupply the Marines on the island. En route to the island the task force engaged a Japanese force in the early hours of the morning and in the ensuing fight the Juneau was torpedoed resulting in a huge hole on the port side and a nearly severed keel. This was the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal: on November 13, 1942 the United States lost five of its thirteen ships, including the destroyers Cushing, Laffey and Barton, while the Japanese force lost a battleship and two destroyers. The remaining American ships withdrew but as they did so the Juneau was torpedoed again by the Japanese submarine I-26; this time the Juneau sank and because of the Japanese presence rescue efforts were curtailed.
Later, eight or ten (accounts differ) survivors were rescued after an unimaginable wait of eight days in the water. Three of the brothers had died instantly, one drowned the next day, and one survived a further period of "four or five" days, but the result was the loss of the entire group of Sullivans.
The event became a cause célèbre in this country and the Navy named the destroyers DDG-69 and DD-537 after the brothers in an unusual collective form; both ships were called The Sullivans (plural). Hollywood filmed a version of the story, releasing The Sullivans in 1944, later renaming it The Fighting Sullivans. The film is representative of wartime Hollywood pieces and can be viewed either as an honest attempt to exhort the faithful or a cynical button-pusher, depending on the viewer’s frame of reference. The final scene in which the ghostly brothers ascend to heaven seems to stick in just about everybody’s mind after seeing it, and to this day it is still a powerful piece of filmmaking simply because we know that whatever pathos Hollywood might have added to the narrative, the original story itself was undeniably true.
Thomas Sullivan, their father, died two years after the war. ---------—
Mitt Romney, 8/08/07:
Well, the good news is that we have a volunteer army and that's the way we're going to keep it. My sons are all adults and they've made their decisions about their careers and they've chosen not to serve in the military and active duty. I respect their decision in that regard.
It’s remarkable how we can show our support for our nation and one of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping to get me elected, because they think I’d be a great president. My son, Josh, bought the family Winnebago and has visited 99 counties, most of them with his three kids and his wife. And I respect that and respect all of those in the way they serve this great country.
Transcript of entire event is here: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/...
Online links: The Juneau (photo) and the origin of The Sullivans’ ship names: http://www.fas.org/...
Navy history of the battle: http://www.history.navy.mil/...
Wikipedia entry (basic, not as detailed as the previous link, but containing info not found there): http://en.wikipedia.org/...
UPDATED to follow Operculum's addendum (below)