No policy regarding family members serving together at the same location had been enacted.
The Sullivan brothers wanted to avenge the death of a friend who had been killed at Pearl Harbor. So all five brothers enlisted in the Navy and fought the recruiting officer and the War Department to serve together, ending up on the USS Juneau which was hit by a torpedo at Guatalcanal. (sp)
No one dropped the ball. It was about brotherhood, avenging a death, and very different ideals about serving in war at the time. It was exactly what the Sullivans wanted. They grew up together as five—and did everything as five or none at all.
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