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The Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum is named for the five Sullivan brothers of Waterloo, Iowa, who died together during WWII when their ship, the USS Juneau, was sunk in the South Pacific in November 1942. As a direct result of the Sullivans' deaths (and the deaths of four of the Borgstrom brothers within a few months of each other two years later), the United States War Department adopted the Sole Survivor Policy. US Naval Historical Center Photo #NH 52362

Photos of Iowa’s fallen Vietnam vets to be displayed in museum

Catherine Saunders-Watson
Catherine Saunders-Watson

The Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum is named for the five Sullivan brothers of Waterloo, Iowa, who died together during WWII when their ship, the USS Juneau, was sunk in the South Pacific in November 1942. As a direct result of the Sullivans' deaths (and the deaths of four of the Borgstrom brothers within a few months of each other two years later), the United States War Department adopted the Sole Survivor Policy. US Naval Historical Center Photo #NH 52362
The Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum is named for the five Sullivan brothers of Waterloo, Iowa, who died together during WWII when their ship, the USS Juneau, was sunk in the South Pacific in November 1942. As a direct result of the Sullivans’ deaths (and the deaths of four of the Borgstrom brothers within a few months of each other two years later), the United States War Department adopted the Sole Survivor Policy. US Naval Historical Center Photo #NH 52362
JANESVILLE, Iowa (AP) – A Waterloo, Iowa, museum will soon welcome a permanent display of photos featuring Iowa veterans who were killed in the Vietnam War.

The photos will be displayed in a special 50th anniversary exhibit, as well as a permanent Vietnam exhibit, in the Grout and Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans museums, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported. Some of the photos were also given to an education center proposed near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C.

Vietnam veteran Tom Brickman of Janesville and his daughter Shari Kirkpatrick of Reinbeck collected the pictures in a two-year project. Brickman came up with the idea after he visited a traveling Vietnam Wall exhibit in Iowa. He felt it was important for photos of veterans to be displayed with their names and stories.

“We started Father’s Day weekend of 2012,” Brickman said. “There were 853 killed in Vietnam from Iowa. When we started in 2012 there were 522 photos needed. And we’ve got them all but five.”

Brickman’s effort received both local and national media attention, which he said helped the project immensely.

While he conducted his photo quest, Brickman learned that some men he served with had been killed in action.

“May they rest in peace and never be forgotten,” Brickman said. “That’s why we did this.”

Robin Venter, a Grout Museum District exhibits curator, said the Sullivan Brothers museum will install a permanent kiosk featuring interactive photos and stories of the fallen soldiers in its Vietnam area. The museum chronicles Iowa veterans from the Civil War to the present.

Venter said the 50th anniversary exhibit in the adjoining Grout museum will include a large mosaic that mimics the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a timeline of the war’s major events, and illustrations of its aspects and branches of service.

“We hope to show the personal side of the war,” Venter said. “This is such a huge story to tell. Hopefully, it will intrigue people to go out and learn more on their own.”

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Information from: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, http://www.wcfcourier.com

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

The Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum is named for the five Sullivan brothers of Waterloo, Iowa, who died together during WWII when their ship, the USS Juneau, was sunk in the South Pacific in November 1942. As a direct result of the Sullivans' deaths (and the deaths of four of the Borgstrom brothers within a few months of each other two years later), the United States War Department adopted the Sole Survivor Policy. US Naval Historical Center Photo #NH 52362
The Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum is named for the five Sullivan brothers of Waterloo, Iowa, who died together during WWII when their ship, the USS Juneau, was sunk in the South Pacific in November 1942. As a direct result of the Sullivans’ deaths (and the deaths of four of the Borgstrom brothers within a few months of each other two years later), the United States War Department adopted the Sole Survivor Policy. US Naval Historical Center Photo #NH 52362