(WATERLOO, Iowa) An Iowa museum, dedicated to the famed five Sullivan Brothers, is reacting to news the brothers' final resting place has been found in the south Pacific. Crews recently found the wreckage of the USS Juneau more than two miles beneath the surface, near the Solomon Islands.
Bob Neymeyer is an historian at the Grout Museum, which runs the Sullivan Brothers' Iowa Veterans Museum in Waterloo. "We're thrilled that after 75 years the story, has found a completion," said Neymeyer.
He tells WHO Radio news they'll now start talking about how to include the new information into exhibits. He says visitors often ask where the Sullivans are buried, and now after 75 years there's a more definite answer.
The wreckage is a burial site and considered hallowed ground and will not be disturbed.
The USS Juneau was hit by a Japanese torpedo during the Battle of Guadalcanal November, 13 1942.
The Sullivan Brothers were among more than 600 sailors who died when the ship went down.
Their story inspired the moving "The Fighting Sullivans" in 1945.
Their story is also the inspiration behind the Sullivan's Award of Valor, given each year to Iowa peace officers and firefighters who demonstrate heroism