Several weeks from now is Veterans Day.

I’ve always thought we should think about and honor veterans often, instead of waiting for one specific day.We owe them too much to wait a full year to pay respects. We ought to do it regularly.I recently had a chance to visit a sprawling display of WWII-era bombers at Hazleton Municipal Airport.The war machines were supposed to be the star of the show — and they did stand out. Their size is surprising.Bombers are much larger in person than they appear in photos or old film footage.But, for me, the hot August day was special because it provided an opportunity to talk with veterans and thank them for their service.Their stories are captivating.Midway through the event, I ran into a woman claiming to be “Mrs. Alleta Sullivan,” the famous mother of five sailors lost during the sinking of a ship.In reality, Mrs. Sullivan passed away in 1972. The woman I’d met — and recognized — was my friend Regina Drasher of Drums, a living history re-enactor.“Yes, I lost my five boys,” she told attendees, telling of heartbreak only a grieving mother would understand. “They were all lost together.”Her story is incredible.One single disaster took George, 27; Francis “Frank,” 26; Joseph “Joe,” 24; Madison “Matt,” 23; and Albert “Al,” 20.The Sullivan brothers of Waterloo, Iowa, served together and were lost around Nov. 13, 1942, on the sinking of the USS Juneau.Even a detail as simple as the date is charged with pain and uncertainty.That’s because so much went horribly wrong during the sinking and belated rescue attempt that timing of the deaths is foggy.The ship was hit by a Japanese torpedo at Guadalcanal and again later in the day, according to an account on Wikipedia.The ship sank. Naval officers were skeptical anyone had survived and believed it unsafe to search for the men.But about 100 of the crew had survived and were left stranded in the water, exposed to hunger, thirst, shark attacks and the elements.Eight days after the sinking, 10 survivors were plucked from the water. They provided details of what happened and what became of the Sullivans.They said Frank, Joe and Matt died instantly. Al drowned the next day, and George survived for four or five days before suffering from delirium as a result of hypernatremia, or high sodium levels in the blood.Some accounts say he was “driven insane with grief” at the loss of his brothers and went over the side of the raft, never to be seen again.The shock of losing a son or daughter to war is life-altering.The thought of losing five sons at the same moment in the war is unimaginable.President Franklin Roosevelt sent condolences to Alleta and husband Thomas. Pope Pius XII sent a silver religious medal, a rosary and message of regret. The Iowa Senate and House adopted a resolution in tribute to the Fighting Sullivans.Interestingly, Alleta and Thomas persevered. They even made appearances on behalf of the war effort, speaking at industrial plants and shipyards.A destroyer, the USS Sullivans, was named in the family’s honor. Alleta participated in its launching.One account claims grief eventually overwhelmed Thomas and he died in 1947 a broken man.I think the story of the Sullivan family moved me as much as seeing the great war planes.Yes, I can admire the imposing air machines and the amazing American ingenuity of steel plates, rivets, propellers, glass and bombs.But nothing is more powerful than the deep emotion of the human spirit and how Thomas and Alleta Sullivan stood tall when all was lost and the pain unbearable.Contact Donald R. Serfass at

dserfass@tnonline.com.