WW2 Fallen - Thomas Roddy, USS Juneau + 5 Sullivan brothers

Lt. Thomas Roddy's photo when he was at the US Naval Academy. Five Sullivan brothers served on USS Juneau.
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=56763104
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sullivan_brothers

UPDATED: November 13, 2017

Seventy-five years ago today newspapers across the country ran headlines like Tobruk Captured By Advancing British and Powerful Allied Forces Advances Near Tunisia. At home the favorite song was White Christmas by Bing Crosby. Folks were going to the movies to watch Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth in You Were Never Lovelier or Road to Morocco with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. That Friday night, families could tune into their radios and listen to Abbott and Costello or Kraft Music Hall with Bing Crosby, Mary Martin, and Victor Borge.

Nov 13, 1942 was also a day that would see the demise of more than 1,000 Americans who died serving their country that day, most of them in the waters around Guadalcanal. One of them was US Naval Academy graduate Thomas Roddy.

He was born on April 12, 1917 in Massachusetts. His mother and father were both born in Ireland. His father was a street railway mason. Thomas had three older brothers and three younger brothers and one sister, the youngest in the family. By 1940 Thomas was completing his final year at the US Naval Academy. 

On February 14, 1942, Lt. Roddy reported aboard the light cruiser USS Juneau. It first conducted patrols in the Atlantic and Caribbean, but transferred to the Pacific in August 1942. Among its first actions there was rescuing the crew of the carrier Wasp after it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. It also participated in the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands protecting the carriers Hornet and Enterprise from plane attack. 

Juneau's next, and final, engagement was the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Early in the darkness of Friday, November 13, 1942, a Japanese naval force of two battleships, one light cruiser and nine destroyers approached Guadalcanal. In contrast, the Americans had two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and eight destroyers. In the costly battle, Juneau suffered a torpedo hit that broke her keel and knocked out most of its systems. Having no ability to contribute to the battle, it withdrew out of harm's way.

With many of the surviving American ships heavily damaged, they retreated away from Guadalcanal during the daylight hours of November 13. During the retreat, Juneau was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sank with all but 100 of its crew. Fearing additional submarine attacks, the other ships did not remain to pick up survivors. Due to poor communications, the survivors were not picked up for another eight days at which time only ten men were left. Lt. Roddy was one of the 687 men who were lost at sea. Also lost were all five of the Sullivan brothers, which caused the US to reverse the practice of allowing brothers to serve together in the same unit.

A painting depicting the sinking of the USS Juneau.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/274438171018258819/

Lt. Roddy's sacrifice is honored at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.

Thank you Thomas for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Thomas.

Thanks to Darillyn Lamb Starr for recommending that Thomas be profiled.

On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!

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