Posts: 2031
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 12-05-2012 01:50 PM               

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It is with deep personal regret that I have been informed of the passing of a great and noble friend, Walter B. ("Sully") Sullivan, Jr. after a protracted illness, on Sunday, 2 September. In 1959, then a 1st. Lieutenant in the USAF based at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, Sully was appointed liaison officer to the 32 candidates there for stress testing for the position of Mercury astronaut, subsequently remaining friends with many of them for the rest of his life. On his retirement from the USAF he had attained the rank of Lt. Colonel.

Sully first contacted me three years ago when I was trying to discover the names of the last five unknown candidates for those final Mercury tests - as seen in the movie "The Right Stuff" - and kindly gave Kris Stoever and I the five missing names. He subsequently assisted me in contacting the surviving finalists or their family members for my book "Selecting the Mercury Seven." He was passionate about this book and his help and friendship were the heart and soul of this work. Now seriously ill, Sully leapt at the chance to assist me once again when I undertook to write a new follow-up book on the selection of the second and third astronaut groups ("Moon Bound," due out in the spring) and his wife Judy told me it gave him a purpose to each new day. It is sad that he will never get to see ths new book, which again is such a tribute to him and his work on my behalf.

My wife Pat and I visited Delaware just two months ago and stayed for several days with Sully and Judy, and I know it was a meeting he had longed looked forward to, knowing it would never happen again, and it also meant a great deal to me.

His memory will always be cherished and my old mate Sully will be forever and fondly missed.

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