Countryside in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Specialist John R. Sullivan

Photographed by Sean Flynn

1. Specialist John R. Sullivan Marker

Inscription. In memory of
Specialist John R. Sullivan
101st Airborne Division
(The Screaming Eagles)
Killed during Iraq Conflict
November 15, 2003

Topics and series. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Patriots & Patriotism • War, 2nd Iraq. In addition, it is included in the Military Order of the Purple Heart series list.

Location. 41° 47.442′ N, 87° 52.376′ W. Memorial is in Countryside, Illinois, in Cook County. It is at the intersection of Plainfield Road and 55th Street, on the left when traveling west on Plainfield Road. The small rectangular marker is in the garden bed of a round veterans memorial at Countryside's Memorial Park. Touch for map. Memorial is in this post office area: La Grange IL 60525, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this memorial is in Greater Chicago.

It is also in the American Midwest

and on the Great Lakes.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France,

the territory of the

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Memorial Park (within shouting distance of this marker); John H. Brancato, Jr. (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); Veteran's Memorial (approx. half a mile away); Veterans Memorial Flagpole (approx. half a mile away); 1925 Erie "Type B" Steam Shovel (approx. one mile away); This was "Countryside" (approx. one mile away); Bennett Field Lights (approx. 1.3 miles away); James D. Stevenson (approx. 1.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Countryside.

Regarding Specialist John R. Sullivan. Specialist John R. Sullivan was killed on November 15, 2003, when two Army Black Hawk helicopters crashed in Mosul, Iraq. According to military reports, the crash may have been caused by hostile fire from a rocket-propelled grenade, which clipped one of the helicopters and caused a mid-air collision. At least 17 soldiers were killed and five injured in the crash, all of them members of the 101st Airborne Division, based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Sullivan,

Photographed by Sean Flynn, December 10, 2023

2. Specialist John R. Sullivan Marker

the sixth of six siblings raised in Countryside, had left military service after several years, and then re-enlisted in the Army in 2003, months after moving with his family to the Seattle area. Sullivan left behind a wife, a 10-year-old step-daughter and two 2-month-old twin sons, whom he had never met in person. He is buried in Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, Washington.

Also see . . .
1. Soldier never saw twin sons. Seattle Post-Intelligencer report on Sullivan's death, from the November 17, 2003, newspaper. (Submitted on December 11, 2023, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

2. One Mother's Son. A Chicago Tribune op-ed written for Memorial Day 2006 by Specialist John R. Sullivan's mother. (Submitted on December 11, 2023, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

3. John R. Sullivan on Find a Grave. (Submitted on December 11, 2023, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

Memorial Park, Countryside, Ill. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean Flynn, December 10, 2023

3. Memorial Park, Countryside, Ill.

Credits. This page was last revised on May 21, 2025. It was originally submitted on December 11, 2023, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 249 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 11, 2023, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.