The Fighting Sullivans, originally released as The Sullivans, is a 1944 biographical war film directed by Lloyd Bacon and written by Edward Doherty, Mary C. McCall Jr. and Jules Schermer. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story.
The story follows the lives of the five Irish-American Sullivan brothers, who grew up in Iowa during the days of the Great Depression and served together in the United States Navy during World War II. Their eventual deaths in the Pacific theater aboard the light cruiser USS Juneau (CL-52) (sunk on 13 November 1942 during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal) are also chronicled in this film, which is based on the brothers’ true life story.
York American Legion brick walk to honor brothers, all veterans
uss the sullivans, Before the five famous “Fighting Sullivans” were killed serving together aboard the USS Juneau during World War II, Theodore “Heck” Bardsley and seven of his brothers joined the Army and went off to war.
Two were wounded, but all eight returned home to Waltham, Mass. At 89, Bardsley, now of York, is the last brother left to tell their story. In their honor, Bardsley bought eight bricks inscribed with each of their names for a new walkway to be built this spring at the Ramsdell Rogers American Legion Post 56 at 9 Hannaford Drive in York.
In Bardsley’s honor, the American Legion officers and Executive Committee decided to name the new pathway the Bardsley Walk of Honor.
In the post lobby hangs a 1941 photo of the eight Bardsley boys in uniform, from eldest to youngest: Leonard, William, Robert, Lewis, Theodore, Harold, Walter and Raymond.
They were either drafted or enlisted, Bardsley said.
Bardsley said, according to a national American Legion article, he ended up in the 78th Infantry this way: “I didn’t join (voluntarily); I was invited to tour Europe, at no cost to me, by President Roosevelt.”
None of the Bardsleys served together, and in fact, Heck said he and his brothers rarely wrote to each other during the war. A small reunion occurred in France after William, who had fought in Africa, joined younger brothers Walter and Robert. They tried to get a hold of Heck as well, Bardsley said, but he was too far away.
Both William and Walter were wounded during the war. Walter earned the Bronze Star by capturing 23 Germans and also fought at the Battle of the Bulge. The other brothers were scattered across Europe and the Pacific.
Bardsley served in France, Belgium and Germany. In March 1945, he was stationed near Ludendorf Bridge at Remagen, Germany, and survived attempts by German snipers to destroy that bridge.
“We captured the bridge at Remagen,” Bardsley said. “I was shot at many times; bombs strafed us.”
He was assigned as a mechanic and welder, and was also responsible for supplying gasoline. Bardsley was ordered to take five trucks of ammunition across the bridge that was weakened by bomb attacks, he said. One driver refused to cross, he said, and was arrested on the spot.
After the war, the family, which included 13 children, reunited at home.
“We all joined the American Legion (in Waltham) as a team,” Bardsley said. “We went out and worked at getting others to join the American Legion.”
Bardsley and his wife, Doris, known as “Dorie,” married during a short furlough in January 1943. Bardsley worked as a welding technician in Waltham for 40 years, retiring in 1982.
“I retired at 62,” he said. “I figured, I’m not going to live long.”
The couple, married 66 years, has lived in York since 2006, down the street from their son David. They are all active in American Legion Post 56.
The eight bricks the family purchased will be the first placed in the Bardsley Walk of Honor.
So far, some 50 to 60 of 500 bricks have been sold, according to Legion Executive Committee member John Mercurio, including one bought by York High School graduate and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy.
The walkway will stretch from the side door of the Ramsdell Rogers function facility at the legion to a garden area and gazebo.
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