Expedition of Microsoft Co-Founder Finds Major Piece of WWII History

Paul Allen releases underwater footage of Sullivan brothers' cruiser USS Juneau.

A major piece of American History was found on the ocean floor near the Solomon Islands.

And now video footage has been released showing the wreckage of the cruiser USS Juneau, the watery grave of the famed Sullivan brothers, who were among the 687 crew-members who perished when a Japanese torpedo sunk the vessel during the 1942 Battle of Guadalcanal.

The discovery was made on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17 by a research team funded by billionaire Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft.

Poster features a photo of the five Sullivan brothers as they pose (on board the USS Juneau (CL-52). (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Getty Images

That provided a little more gravity to the find involving the five Irish-American brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, whose loss was the subject of the 1944 movie The Fighting Sullivans and inspired the 1998 film, Saving Private Ryan.

“The story of the USS Juneau crew and Sullivan brothers epitomize the service and sacrifice of our nation’s greatest generation,” Vice Adm. Rich Brown, commander of Naval Surface Forces, said in a statement to USNI News.

This has been a passion project for Allen, who also funded expeditions to find the wrecks of cruiser USS Indianapolis and carrier USS Lexington.

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