John F. Sullivan never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Lt. John Sullivan served in the 464th Bombardment Group based in Italy.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/36429555/john-f-sullivan
https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/usa/aircrafts-2-3/b-24-liberator/464-bomb-group-b-24j-bomber-over-oil-refinery-at-oswiecim-poland-1944/
A native of Worcester, Massachusetts, he was born August 31, 1920. He joined the Army Air Forces and after training in the United States was assigned to the 777th Bomber Squadron, 464th Bomber Group, operating out of Pantanella Air Field in Italy.
On July 28, 1944, he was bombardier on a B-24 bomber, attacking Nazi oil fields in Romania. His aircraft was struck by a bomb from another American aircraft flying overhead and exploded. Crew members in other bombers saw the explosion and reported that no parachutes were seen. All 10 crewmen were presumed dead.
Another American B-24 flew into the fireball from Lt. Sullivan’s plane, and the crew had to bail out. They all landed safely. Some were protected by friendly Romanians, and others were captured by the Germans. All were returned to the States at the end of hostilities.
Partial remains of Lt. Sullivan and three other crew members were recovered after the war and interred in a common grave at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. Lt. Sullivan was survived by his wife, Gladiola J. Sullivan, of Westboro, Massachusetts.
Thank you, Lieutenant John F. Sullivan, for your sacrifice. Let’s earn it for John.
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This profile was written by John F. Schlatter. “I’m from Knoxville, Tennessee and a retired corporate public relations manager, living in Las Vegas. I served as an active duty and reserve Army officer 1974-82. I’ve written two books about veterans. One tells the stories of WWII veterans through postcards they wrote to the folks back home, and the other honors about 50 of the 168 Americans who died in Vietnam on the Fourth of July. I’ve also been a volunteer in the effort to find photographs of all 58,000 Americans who died in Vietnam. Researching and writing the stories of those who died to preserve freedom has gone from a hobby to a passion for me. If we don’t honor and remember, who will?”
This is one of the final three stories (3) to be written as part of this project which ends on September 2, 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. At that time more than 1,370 men and women will have been profiled. The project will live on in an expanded program to write the stories of all 400,000+ US World War II fallen. Visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org to learn more. We welcome your continued support and interest and encourage you to help write some of these stories.
Last year on this date I profiled Max Smith, 30th Infantry Division. You can read about Max here.
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!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
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Thank you for remembering these heroes....
ReplyDeleteWow,
ReplyDeleteLt. John F. Sullivan was my mothers baby brother, and thus my uncle. I vividly recall how my mother missed her brother in the 1950's. He was laid to rest at the Jefferson Barracks around 1953 or 1954. Approximately 10 years after he was KIA.
It is my understanding that he was killed on his 52nd mission. Upon completing his first tour, he returned to the states, got married, and volunteered to go back. He was hoping to be assigned to a B-29, which had a pressurized cabin, and flew at higher altitudes than the B-24.
I have shared this with my great grand nephews and nieces, and their children. The memories of this great and wonderful generation, I'm afraid will be quickly forgotten and lost in the memories of time.
David Early
David,
DeleteContact me at don@storiesbehindthestars.org to learn how your uncle's story can be added to the Stories Behind the Stars database of all the 400,000+ US WWII fallen and can be read by anyone visiting his gravesite and scanning his name with their smartphone camera.