1 Among the military leaders President Trump called “losers, dopes and babies,” in his July 2017 meeting at the Pentagon, was then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, Jr.
2 Dunford served as the commander of the 5th Marine Regiment during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and was the architect of the substantial draw-down of U.S. forces in Afghanistan during Obama’s presidency.
3 A teenage enlistee in the Marines, Dunford is the son of a Marine who fought in Korea. Three of Dunford’s uncles served as Marines during World War II. When President Trump belittles men such as Dunford, he denigrates the heritage of the Marines and all other service branches.
4 That heritage of heroic self-sacrifice embodied in the life story of Dunford is illustrated by the story of the Sullivan brothers of Waterloo IA and their loss at Guadalcanal. Not losers, dopes or babies, the Sullivan brothers, like Dunford, represent the very best of America.
5 It began with a mom's letter: "I am writing you in regards to a rumor going around that my 5 sons were killed in action in November. A mother from here came and told me she got a letter from her son and he heard my 5 sons were killed." look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
6 "My 5 sons joined the Navy together a year ago… It was hard to give 5 sons all at once to the Navy but I am proud of my boys …I hated to bother you but it has worried me so that I wanted to know if it was true…So please tell me. Mrs. Alleta Sullivan”look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
7 By the time Mrs. Sullivan wrote the letter, her five sons had been dead for two months. They were serving together on the cruiser USS Juneau, which was destroyed in an intense naval battle with Japanese ships at Guadalcanal.look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
8 The brothers were together, despite the Navy’s policy of separating siblings, because the oldest brother, George, had written to the Secretary of the Navy shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack, asking that they be allowed to serve together.look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
9 George’s letter declared, “As a bunch, there is no-body that can beat us.”
USS Juneau, the Sullivan brothers' ship.look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
10 The Sullivan bros became a national sensation. Their patriotism and pure Americana charm inspired the country during the dark, early days of World War II. Their loss at Guadalcanal would be the greatest loss suffered by any American family in the war.look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
11 Guadalcanal was the site of a series of land, naval and aerial battles between U.S. forces and land and sea forces of Imperial Japan. They took place over a six month period, from August 1942 until the Japanese withdrawal in February 1943. look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
12 The battles were fought in stifling tropical heat and, for a while, on reduced rations. Fever, chills, vomiting and muscle pain from malaria, spread by mosquitos, debilitated American troops. look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
[field hospital]
13 Japanese forces had invaded Guadalcanal, then a British territory, in 1942 and commenced construction of an airfield. The airfield was important to control of the sea lines between the U.S. and and its ally, Australia. look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
14 US Marines landed on Guadalcanal on Aug 7, 1942, and seized the airfield. The Japanese tried repeatedly over a six month period to retake the airfield. The fight for Guadalcanal culminated in a decisive naval battle that took place on Nov 12-15, 1942. look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
15 The Japanese had organized a transport convoy in Nov 1942 to carry 7,000 infantry troops and equipment to Guadalcanal for another assault. As a part of this operation, several Japanese warships were ordered to bomb Henderson Field from offshore.look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
16 The US learned of the planned Japanese offensive &launched a counterstrike to defend Henderson Field and prevent the Japanese convoy from reaching Guadalcanal. The Juneau was a participant in the Allied counterstrike. It arrived in Guadalcanal on Nov 12.look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
17 A Japanese naval force engaged the Juneau & the other landing support group vessels. Because of bad weather and confused communications, the battle occurred in near-pitch darkness and at almost point-blank range. US and enemy battle lines intermingled. look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
18Juneau was struck on the port side by a Japanese torpedo and withdrew, heading toward an Allied safe harbor for repairs. In her retreat, at 11:00 that same morning, a 2nd torpedo struck the Juneau in its weapons magazine. There was a great explosion. look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
19 Juneau broke in two and disappeared beneath the surface of the water in seconds. Fearing more attacks and assuming there were no survivors, U.S. ships accompanying the Juneau departed without searching for survivors.look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
20 More than 100 sailors had survived the sinking of the Juneau. 8 days after the sinking, rescue aircraft arrived, but in the intervening days, while awaiting rescue in the open ocean, all but 10 sailors had died from injuries, exposure and shark attacks.look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
21 Two of the Sullivan brothers apparently survived the sinking, only to die in the water; two presumably went down with the ship. Some reports indicate the fifth brother also survived the sinking, but disappeared during the first night when he left a raft and got into the water.
22 The U.S. succeeded in thwarting attempts by the Japanese to bombard Henderson Field and sank most of the Japanese convoy. The battle turned back Japan's last major attempt to dislodge Allied forces from the island.look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
23 An estimated 1,600 U.S. troops were killed on Guadalcanal, including 687 from the Juneau and two U.S. Navy flag officers. Over 4,000 U.S. trooops were wounded. Several thousand more died from disease. look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
24 The Petrel, a research vessel funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen, identified the wreckage of the Juneau on March 17, 2018, lying about 2.6 miles underwater off the coast of the Solomon Islands.look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
25 Video of the underwater wreck is included in our full report on the Sullivan brothers. You can read our report, and see the video here: look.substack.com/p/the-sullivan…
end/ We fight Trump, and the ignorance of his administration, with American history. Facts, truth and honesty always prevail in the end.
Please join us with a subscription to our reports: look.substack.com
Knowledge is power.
Historical context is the wisdom key.
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