The Fighting Sullivans : How Hollywood and the Military Make Heroes / Bruce Kuklick.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kuklick, Bruce, 1941- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World War, 1939-1945--Search and rescue operations.

World War, 1939-1945.

Shipwrecks--South Pacific Ocean.

Shipwrecks.

World War, 1939-1945--Motion pictures and the war.

Brothers--United States--Biography.

Brothers.

Sailors--United States--Biography.

Sailors.

World War, 1939-1945--Naval operations, American.

Waterloo (Iowa)--Biography.

Waterloo (Iowa).

Fighting Sullivans (Motion picture).

Juneau (Antiaircraft cruiser).

Sullivan family.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (226 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Lawrence, Kansas : University Press of Kansas, 2016.

Summary:

"The five Sullivan brothers, at their insistence, were assigned to the same ship in World War II. Predictably when the ship was blown up they all were killed. The Navy buried their mistake in allowing all five to serve on the same ship by turning the five brothers into heroes, complete with a ship named after them, a Hollywood movie, and news coverage that turned five shiftless losers into great American heroes. Kuklick tells the story of who they were, what happened to them, and how they were transformed into heroes by the war publicity machine and Hollywood. He focuses a lot on the film The Fighting Sullivans telling how it got made, how it related to the use of Hollywood in the effort to promote the war, and how the film and the brothers' story was received. He also tells about the continuing half-life of their fame as their dying hometown, Waterloo, Iowa, tried to capitalize on their fame, much to the chagrin of some of some townspeople who remember the real Sullivan brothers. This is a book about the manufacture of heroes in war-time America."--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and Maps

Introduction: The Sullivan Brothers in America and in Waterloo, Iowa

1. Growing Up Sullivan

2. Depression Troubles

3. In the Navy

4. Guadalcanal

5. National Heroes

6. A New Mrs. Bixby

7. The Navy Tour and After

8. Hollywood in Waiting for the Sullivans

9. The Film Is Born

10. The Sullivans and The Fighting Sullivans

11. The Sullivans and The Fighting Sullivans

12. The Battles of Waterloo, 1944-1964

13. Town and Country

Conclusion: How We Remember and Why

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliographical Essay

Index

Back Cover.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780700623556

0700623558

OCLC:

964612799