Several misconceptions, common during World War II and after, continue to circulate about the Sullivan brothers and the assignment of family members to U.S. Navy ships.
Reference to a "Sullivan Act" in connection with family members serving in the same ship/unit is a popular misconception. The Sullivan Law of 25 May 1911 is a New York City ordinance dealing with firearms. Although proposed after the death of the five Sullivan Brothers, no "Sullivan Act" was ever enacted by Congress related to family members serving together. Similarly, no President has ever issued any executive order forbidding assignment of family members to the same ship/unit.
Following are nine references that describe the U.S. Navy policy toward the assignment of family members to ships since 1942, and one other article that help explain this policy.
Official U.S. Navy Documents:
(1) Bureau of Naval Personnel Information
Bulletin, 1942; Extract on the assignment of brothers to same
ship or station
(2) Bureau of Naval Personnel Circular
Letter 345-44, 15 November 1944; Sole-survivor policy
(3) Bureau of Naval Personnel Circular
Letter 107-45, 14 April 1945; Sole-survivor policy
(4) Bureau of Naval Personnel Circular
Letter 281-45, 28 September 1945; Members of Families Serving
in the Same Ship, [Policy after World War II]
(5) Extract from History of Enlisted
Personnel Activity, Bureau of Naval Personnel Administrative
History, 1946. This summarizes wartime practice with regard to
family members serving in same ship/unit, also "sole survivor"
policy.
(6) Bureau of Naval Personnel Manual:
Chapter 5; Policy on assignment or reassignment of members of
the same immediate family, 1966.
(7) Naval Military Personnel Command Press
Release , 29 May 1980; on same-unit and sole-survivor policies.
(8) OPNAV Instruction 1300.15, 6 January
1988 [Extract on sole survivors from Office of Chief of Naval
Operations instruction]
(9) Naval Military Personnel Manual,
NavPers 15560C, 15 August 1991
Unofficial:
(1) Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin, 1942;
Extract on the assignment of brothers to same ship or station
[Source: Bureau of Naval Personnel: Information Bulletin, July 1942, Number 304, World War II Command File, Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical Center, Washington, DC]
[Article forbids commanding officers to forward requests from
brothers to serve in same ship/station. Issued July 1942, but
does not seem to have been enforced in practice.]
(2) Bureau of Naval Personnel Circular Letter 345-44, 15 November
1944; Sole-survivor policySole Survivor Policy
[Source: Navy Department Bulletin All Ships and Stations
Letters, January-June 1945
(Still in effect 30 June 1945), Navy Department, World War
II Command File, Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical
Center, Washigton, D.C.]
BuPers [Bureau of Naval Personnel]
CIRCULAR LETTER NO. 345-44
44-1285--Return to the United States of Sons of War-Depleted Families
Pers -10D -JK, P16-3/00, 15 November 1944
ACTION: ALL SHIPS AND STATIONS
1. In recognition of the sacrifice and contribution made by a
family which has lost two or more sons who were members of the
armed forces and has only one surviving, and he is serving in
the Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard, consideration will be
given to his return to, or retention in, the continental limits
of the United States, except when he is engaged in nonhazardous
duties overseas.
2. Applications for return to, or retention in, the continental limits of the United States must be filed by the serviceman himself or his immediate family. Request from the individual concerned shall be submitted officially to the Bureau of Naval Personnel for naval personnel, Commandant of the U. S. Marine Corps for Marine Corps personnel, and Commandant of the U. S. Coast Guard for Coast Guard personnel by their commanding officers. Applications received from immediate families shall be referred to the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Commandant of the U. S. Marine Corps, or Commandant of the U. S. Coast Guard, as appropriate.-BuPers. L. E. Denfeld.
(3) Bureau of Naval Personnel Circular Letter 107-45, 14 April
1945; Sole-survivor policy
[ Source: Navy Department Bulletin All Ships and Stations
Letters January-June 1945
(Still in effect 30 June 1945), Navy Department, World War
II Command File, Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical
Center, Washington, D.C.]
BuPers [Bureau of Naval Personnel]
CIRCULAR LETTER NO. 107-45
45-380--Return to the United States of Sons of War-Depleted Families
Pers-2-LD, P16-3/MM, 14 April 1945
ACTION: ALL SHIPS AND STATIONS
(Ref.: (a) BuPers Circ. Ltr. 345-44;
AS&SL July-Dec. 1944, 44-1285, p. 467.)
1. Reference (a) on this same subject is canceled and superseded
by this letter.
2. In recognition of the Sacrifice and contribution made by a family which has lost two or more sons who were members of the armed forces, consideration will be given to the return to, or the retention in, the continental limits of the United States, of all remaining members of the immediate family serving in the Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard, except when engaged in nonhazardous duties overseas.
3. Applications for return to, or retention in, the continental limits of the United States must be filed by the serviceman himself or his immediate family. Request from the individual concerned shall be submitted officially to the Bureau of Naval Personnel for naval personnel, Commandant, U. S. Marine Corps, for Marine Corps personnel, and Commandant, U. S. Coast Guard, for Coast Guard personnel, by their commanding officers. Applications received from immediate families shall be referred to the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Commandant, U. S. Marine Corps, or Commandant, U. S. Coast Guard, as appropriate.-BuPers. Randall Jacobs.
(4) Bureau of Naval Personnel Circular Letter 281-45, 28 September
1945; Members of Families Serving in the Same Ship
[Source: Navy Department Bulletin All Ships and Stations
Letters, January-June 1945
(Still in effect 30 June 1945), Navy Department, World War
II Command File, Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical
Center, Washington, D.C.]
BuPers [Bureau of Naval Personnel]
CIRCULAR LETTER NO. 281-45
45-1332-Members of Families Serving in the Same Ship or Other
Activity
Pers-630-MJB(1), P16-3/MM, 28 September 1945
ACTION: ALL SHIPS AND STATIONS
1. With the end of the war with Japan, the Navy can now revert
to its long-time policy of not prohibiting members of the same
family from serving together aboard the same ship or at the same
activity.
2. The Navy now has no objection to members of the same family serving in the same ship. However, no assurance can be given that members of the same family can be kept together indefinitely.
3. Except in the cases of recruits as indicated in the following paragraph, no transfers of personnel may be made under the authority of this letter alone, but must be in accordance with current directives regarding transfers.
4. Naval training centers are authorized, without further reference to this Bureau, to effect transfers of recruits who have brothers serving in ships of any fleet, except submarines, to the ships in which their brothers are serving for duty, or such other duty as the fleet commander may assign.--BuPers. W. M. Fechteler.
(5) Bureau of Naval Personnel, History of the Enlisted
Personnel Activity; Chapter 5, 1946; Extracts
[Selections from: Bureau of Naval Personnel, History of the
Enlisted Personnel Activity, #87; Navy Department Library,
Naval Historical Center, Washington, D.C., 18 January 1946. One
of a large series of unpublished "administrative histories"
written by Navy commands shortly after the end of World War II.]
[Selection states that "a common peace-time practice in the Navy, which was never specifically forbidden during World War II, was for brothers to serve together on the same ship." Involuntary separation of brothers was considered, especially after loss of Sullivan brothers in November 1942, but not put into effect.
From time to time the Bureau established policies to govern
the assignment and distribution of special categories and types
of enlisted personnel. These policies sometimes were, in effect,
self-denying ordinances which the Bureau imposed upon itself and,
in other instances, were intended to control the actions of fleet
and shore commands responsible for personnel distribution.
Family Groups
One category of enlisted personnel who created delicate policy
questions for the Bureau was composed of family groups serving
in the Navy. A common peace-time practice in the Navy, which was
never specifically forbidden during World War II, was for brothers
to serve together on the same ship. On 3 February 1942, instructions
were issued that it would be considered "impractical"
to authorize the transfer of men after recruit training to specific
vessels in which brothers or close relatives were serving. As
to brothers and relatives already serving together, they were
to be advised of the undesirability of their continuing to do
so, from the standpoint of their dependents, and told that they
would be given every opportunity to request transfers. Commanding
officers were directed to approve such requests when they would
facilitate separation of members of the same family. In the Bureau
of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin for July, 1942, it was
stated that the Bureau considered it to be in the interest of
their families that brothers not be put on the same ships in wartime,
and added that "in view of the above, commanding officers
will not forward requests for brothers to serve in the same ship
or station." Other than the foregoing announcements, no policies
were put forth on the subject. The question of the advisability
of coercive action to force the separation of brothers was considered,
especially after the death of the five Sullivan brothers as a
result of the sinking of the U.S.S. Juneau on 13 November
1942. However, no such action was taken.
A related policy question was that of the proper handling of surviving members of family groups in which casualties had been suffered. In this field, action by the Navy was forced by the announcement of a War Department Policy on 26 October 1944 of "removing surviving sons from the hazards of combat. On that date the Assistant Chief of Naval Personnel approved a recommendation of the officer in charge of the public relations activities of the Bureau that the press services be informed that "the Navy has also adopted this policy." On 15 November 1944 Bureau Circular Letter 345-44 was issued. It stated that in case a family had lost two or more sons in the armed forces and had only one surviving son, consideration would be given to application either by the family or the surviving son for the latter's retention in the United States, unless he was engaged in non-hazardous duties overseas. On 14 April 1945 Bureau Circular Letter 107-45 broadened the rule to provide that if two or more members of the family had been lost consideration would be given to the return to the United States of all remaining members of the family.
(6) Bureau of Naval Personnel Manual: Chapter 5; Policy
on assignment or reassignment of members of the same immediate
family, 13 September 1966.
[Source: Bureau of Naval Personnel Manual]
(7) Naval Military Personnel Command Press Release, 29 May 1980; Brothers on the Same Ship
[Source: Naval Military Personnel Command, Press Release of 29 May 1980, The Sullivans Source Files, Ships History Branch, Naval Historical Center, Washington, DC.]
(8) OPNAV Instruction 1300.15 on Navy
Military Personnel Assignment Policy, 6 January 1988, Extract
[Source: Section 9, OPNAV Instruction 1300.15 on Navy Military
Personnel Assignment Policy, 9 January 1988. The whole instruction
is available on Table 02 at http://neds.nebt.dap.mil/Directives/dirindex.html]
Section 9 [Extract]
p. Sole Surviving Son or Daughter. Policies concerning
the assignment, assignment re-
strictions, eligibility criteria and waivers from designation
are contained in reference (e).[Naval
Military Personnel Manual]
q. Assignment to Duty in Designated Hostile-Fire or Imminent-Danger
Areas
(1) Assignment to duty in a hostile-fire or imminent-danger area (hereafter referred to as "hostile-fire area"), as specified by reference (g), must be shared equitably by all similarly, qualified members except as follows:
(a) If a member of a family is killed or dies when serving in a designated hostile-fire area, or is determined by the Veterans Administration (VA) or a Military Service to be 100 percent physically or mentally disabled because of such disability shall be hospitalized continually and shall not be employed gainfully other members of the same family shall be exempt on request from serving in designated hostile-fire areas. If serving in such an area, other family members shall be reassigned from there. Family members similarly shall be exempt, on request, when another family member is in a captured or missing status.
(b) Members qualifying as sole surviving sons or-daughters and requesting non-combat duty or not waiving a request submitted by a parent shall be assigned according to reference (e).
(c) Assignment of conscientious objectors shall be subject to DoD restrictions.
(2) Personnel who were wounded in
a specific hostile-fire action resulting from combat service and
were hospitalized 30 or more days outside a hostile-fire area
shall not be returned to such service during the same tour. Members
reassigned under this circumstance, if needed, may be eligible
for reassignment to a hostile-fire area on subsequent tours. Members
may return
voluntarily to a hostile-fire area, if medically qualified. The
provisions of this paragraph shall
not apply to members hospitalized for injury, accident, or illness
not attributable to hostile-fire action. This prevents considering
cases such as self-inflicted wounds and other noncombat causes.
(3) Requests for combat deferment or exemption may be submitted only b), the member and must be submitted to CNMPC. Deferment requests should be submitted within 15 days after receiving orders, assignment instruction, unit alert, or movement schedule. Exemption requests may be submitted at any time. A member submitting a request for deferment or exemption from an assignment should be retained in place until action on the request is finalized.
(4) For the purpose of this section,
family members include the following:
(a) Father and Mother. This includes stepfather, father by adoption,
step-mother, mother by adoption, or those who have stood in loco
parentis for at least 5 years.
(b) Brothers and Sisters. This includes stepbrothers, brothers
by adoption, half
brothers, stepsisters, sisters by adoption, or half sisters.
(c) Husband and Wife.
(d) Children:
1. Legitimate child.
2. Legally adopted child.
3. Stepchild, if a member of the household at the time of death
of the service member or former service member.
4. An illegitimate child of a female service member or a female
former service member.
5. An illegitimate child to whose support a male service member
or former
service member shall have been ordered or decreed judicially to
contribute, decreed judicially
to be the father, or shall have acknowledged in writing under
oath that he is the father.
6. A person standing in loco parentis minimally for 5 years before
death to
the service member or former service member.
(9) 1860100 Designation as a sole surviving son or daughter, Naval Military Personnel Manual
[Source: Naval Military Personnel Manual, NAVPERS 15560C, Enclosure e, 15 August 1991,]
Unofficial Sources:
(1) The Non-Commissioned Officers Association News Brief of
22 October 1990 on the Operation Desert Shield Sole Survivor Policy:
[Source: 22 October 1990 News Brief produced by The Non Commissioned
Officers Association National Capital Office, 225 N. Washington
Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 (703) 549-0311]
News Brief: Week of October 22, 1990
Desert Shield soldiers who qualify as sole-surviving sons or daughters
will be reassigned to locations not designated as imminent danger
areas. Imminent danger areas include land areas of Saudi Arabia,
Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, Red Sea,
Gulf of Oman, Arabian Peninsula, and United Arab Emirates. This
policy became effective September 19, 1990, and applies to sole-surviving
sons or daughters who are the only remaining son or daughter in
a family in which the father, mother or one or more sons or daughters
who served in the Armed Services of the United States was killed,
died as a result of wounds, an accident or disease, has been captured
or is missing in action, or is permanently and totally physically
disabled. The term "family member" includes father or
mother, stepfather/mother, father/mother by adoption or those
who have stood in Loco Parentis for at least five years. For additional
information, contact your local personnel office.
28 July 1998