Maurice Joseph Sullivan was born at Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan on August 3, 1923. His full name is Maurice Joseph Patrick Sullivan. His school friends called him Maurie. His father was Joseph Ignatius Sullivan (31 Jul 1896 – 7 May 1974), who was born at Kingsbridge, Huron County, Ontario, Canada; came to America at Port of Detroit, Michigan in January 1922; became a permanent U.S. resident in January 1924; and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in May 1929. His mother was Gertrude Mary (Nash) Sullivan (31 Dec 1896 – 26 Mar 1985), who was born at Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana. His parents married at Detroit, Michigan on October 24, 1922. His father worked as an automobile mechanic and a caterer.

He had three younger siblings: John Frederick Sullivan (7 Oct 1924 – 28 May 2018), Patricia Catherine (Sullivan) Whelan (3 Mar 1926 – 17 Aug 2017), and Maureen Helen Ann Sullivan (28 Jan 1940 – 30 Jan 1940). In 1930 the family lived on 8264 Roselawn Street in Detroit. By 1940 the family lived at 8211 Freda Street, Detroit, Michigan, which was his home of record. In 1940 his father was manager of a catering business.

He attended Saint Luke Catholic Elementary School in Detroit, and graduated from Detroit Catholic Central High School in 1942. In high school he played basketball and boxed, and was the 147-pound boxing champion during his senior year. He registered for the draft at Detroit, Michigan on June 30, 1942. He was 6 feet tall, weighed 155 pounds, and had blue eyes and black hair. He spent a year at Saint Michael's College in Toronto, Ontario, before induction into the Army Air Corps.

He completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery training, and was assigned as tail gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Lloyd W. Kersten. The Kersten crew completed B-17 operational training at Dyersburg Army Air Base, Tennessee, and was assigned to the 836th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group, at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. The crew arrived at Station 137 by July 24, 1944, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.

S/Sgt Sullivan and six of his crewmates were killed in action on November 30, 1944, when their aircraft, B-17G 43-37877, was shot down by flak. The target was the large I. G. Farben synthetic oil refinery at Leuna near Merseburg, Germany. As the 487th Bomb Group formation approached the initial point of the bomb run near Triptis, the radar set in the lead ship malfunctioned, and the deputy lead ship took over the lead for a visual run. The bombardier in that ship couldn't pick out the Leuna refinery through the smokescreen and the flak, so he chose to drop on what was thought to be a refinery in the vicinity of Zeitz. At 1:15 PM, just after bombs away, Lt Kersten's B-17 received direct flak hits and went down in the vicinity of Theiίen, just north of Zeitz, Germany. Lt Hyland and Lt Ritchhart bailed out before the aircraft exploded, and survived as prisoners of war.

S/Sgt Sullivan was buried by German Police at the town cemetery of Deuben, Germany on December 5, 1944. His remains were disinterred at Deuben in July 1945, and moved to the U.S. Military Cemetery, Saint-Avold, France—now called Lorraine American Cemetery—where they were permanently reinterred.

B-17G 43-37877 crew:
• Kersten, Lloyd W – 1/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Gerland, Henry E – 1/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Hyland Jr, James W – 1/Lt – Navigator – POW
• Ritchhart, Warren H – 1/Lt – Bombardier – POW
• Eberhart, John D – T/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Shegal, Arnold R – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Morrison, Everett S – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – KIA
• Sullivan, Maurice J – S/Sgt – Tail Gunner – KIA
• Miller, Joseph M – S/Sgt – Waist Gunner – KIA

Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov