Sullivan wrote his mother after being wounded, "Not to worry, I'll be home by Christmas."

James C. Sullivan, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Sullivan, was born in Arizona in 1932. The family later relocated to Fresno in 1943, where he attended Washington Junior High School. Sullivan's parents divorced and James was sent to Watsonville in 1946 to attend St. Francis School. He remained at that school for the next two years, graduated and returned to Fresno where he was employed until the Korean War.

In February 1950, James Sullivan enlisted in the US Army. After completing basic and advanced infantry training, he was assigned to the 29th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) serving on Okinawa. When South Korea was invaded, the 29th RCT was ordered to Korea and arrived there on July 24, 1950. Sullivan's unit's was ordered to contain the North Korean Army (NKA) before it reached the vital port of Pusan. Between July 25 and July 28, they were driven back by the NKA to a point twenty-five miles west of Chinju. By September they had contained the NKA in their sector and were rushed into the Masan corridor.

In the fighting that occurred on September 9, 1950, Private First Class James C. Sullivan was wounded and placed in a hospital in Taegu. On September 19 he died from his wounds. His body was returned to Watsonville and interred in the Pajaro Valley Memorial Park. His awards included the Purple Heart.

(ABMC; NARAK; WRP September 30, 1950 1:5, December 4, 1951, US Army Center of Military History, Fact Sheet, http:// korea50.army.mil/history/factsheets/army.shtml, [16 September 2008] Cemetery Survey May 12, 2008)