Tom Sullivan
Sullivan briefing Miller
Nickname(s)	Sarge
Appears in	Call of Duty: World at War
Rank	Gunnery Sergeant
Affiliations	United States Marine Corps: Marine Raiders (Carlson's 2nd Marine Raiders Battalion), 1st Marine Division
Nationality	American
Status	K.I.A.
Killed By	Japanese Officer soldier
Birth	1915 - 1918[1]
Sex	Male
Hair	Dark
Race	Caucasian
Death	September 15, 1944, Peleliu[2]
Weapon	M1897 Trenchgun, Thompson, M1911
Equipment	Knife, Mk 2 Grenade
Voice Actor	Chris Fries

"Outstanding, Marines, out fucking standing!"

— Tom Sullivan

Gunnery Sergeant Tom^[3] Sullivan was an American squad leader of the United States Marine Corps in Call of Duty: World at War during World War II.

BiographyEdit

Tom Sullivan was the leader of the Marine Raiders squad that came to rescue Private C. Miller (the player) at the beginning of the game, on Makin. After Roebuck knifed Miller's assailant in the back, Sullivan strangles the Japanese officer and hands Miller the officer's Nambu pistol and assaults the Japanese base. They rescue their support squad and foil two ingenious ambushes staged by the Japanese and leave the island.

Towards the end of their assault Sullivan saves a shell-shocked Miller from a Katana wielding Japanese soldier and drags him to the lifeboats. Two years later Sullivan, Roebuck and Miller are part of the 1st Marine Division along with many new recruits, including Pvt. Polonsky. Miller, Roebuck and Sullivan are known as the 'old breed' by the recruits although none of the three were out of their twenties yet. Sullivan's squad and the 1st Marine Division assault Peleliu Island but their operation goes haywire and they get pinned down on the beach until Miller calls in a rocket strike destroying the Japanese machine guns.

They make way for an Allied landing force, in which Sullivan tries to force open a door to get out after hearing a Japanese soldier scream, but Sullivan is mortally wounded when a suicidal swordsman bursts through the door and impales him through the stomach with a Katana. His assailant is quickly gunned down by Roebuck, Polonsky, and Miller but Sullivan dies soon after. According to Roebuck, the whole squad was stunned and agonized by Sullivan's death, Roebuck especially. He refers to Sullivan as "the most solid, dependable and courageous Marine we've ever known."

Polonsky also mourns Sullivan's death, lamenting, "I thought Sullivan would make it through for sure." At the start of "Hard Landing", it is revealed that Sullivan's body is being sent back to his family and Roebuck is promoted to Sergeant and takes command of the squad.

GalleryEdit

Sgt. Sullivan on Makin Atoll.

Sullivan charges Japanese positions.

Sullivan with his Trench Gun.

Sullivan being stabbed with a bayonet, which lead to his death.

Add a photo to this galleryAdd a photo to this gallery

Quotes Edit

• "Listen up. I want to get through the rest of this quick and clean! You hear me? Quick, and clean!"
• "Grab a rifle. We're gonna tear this place apart!"
• "Fix bayonets, use them if you have to!"
• "Okay, keep it together, and we'll get through this in three days!"
• "Roebuck! Signal the strike team!"
• "Fuckers!"
• "I got you Miller, you're still in one piece! Plan's gone to shit! Tojo's got a defensive line dug in just beyond the treeline. We got heavy MG fire tearing up the beach!"
• "Outstanding Marines! Out-fucking-standing!"
• "Tojo's at home in this shit."
• "Soon, Polonsky... Soon." (response to Polonsky's question, "When do we rest?", also Sullivan's last words, as seen in "Little Resistance")
• "Don't leave so much as one of those bastards standing!"
• "Miller, we hit any resistance on the beach, you get on that radio and call for immediate missile support!"
• "Everyone ready? Up and over!"
• "So where's the fireworks?"
• "They better not be." (In response to Roebuck saying: "Tell me those charges weren't duds!")
• "Everyone...Keep your eyes peeled."
• "Everyone! Keep your heads DOWN!"

Trivia Edit

• On "Little Resistance", while on the Amtrak (amphibious tractor), he is a submachine gunner, but after landing, he is a shotgunner again. It is possible that he lost his Thompson when the Amtrak exploded.
• When Sullivan fires his shotgun, he doesn't appear to pump it after each shot.
• Sullivan may be based on Gunnery Sergeant Hjelmstad from the movie Windtalkers. They both use M1897 Trenchguns, they both look relatively alike, and they both died on an island in the Pacific in 1944.
• His signature weapon appears to be an M1897 Trenchgun.
• On the Wii version, Sullivan doesn't wear a helmet throughout "Semper Fi" and "Little Resistance" at all. This goes the same for Roebuck. He also doesn't have a mustache.
• Sullivan wears camouflage face paint on "Semper Fi" and doesn't wear a helmet until "Little Resistance".
• He is the first person in the Call of Duty games to be labeled as a Shotgunner. Everyone else who used a shotgun as a primary, such as Leroy Huxley, is labeled as a support gunner.
• Sullivan was from Dayton, Ohio.^[4]
• Sullivan has a wife who's name starts with a J.
• His former address was 2812 Harther St.
• Sullivan is aged between 20-29 as it is mentioned "We're known as the old breed. Old breed? Hell we're not even out of our twenties". Also the term "old breed" might be a reference from the book With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge. The book details Eugene Sledge's experience with the 1st Marine Division fighting on Peleliu and Okinawa.
• The Number that appears on Sullivan's dog tags during the cutscene after he dies is "39489987T4P"
• Sullivan's line "Outstanding marines. Out-fucking standing!" is also said by Roebuck probably as an honor to his former Sergeant.
• He is voiced by Chris Fries.
• The term, "Old-Breed," refers to Marines with 5 to 10 years of experience in the Marine Corps before Pearl Harbor.
• It is impossible to pick up Sullivan's Trench Gun.
• During the end of the mission "Little Resistance", it appears that Sullivan runs into the Katana of the Japanese soldier.
• Sullivan and Alex McCall (from Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts) are the only two named Gunnery Sergeants in the entire Call of Duty series.
• Sullivan and Roebuck's friendship and actions may have been based on Dixon and McCullin's from Call of Duty 3. McCullin and Sullivan both die making their corporal (Dixon and Roebuck) sergeant. These two then die at the end of the American campaign (Roebuck dying is up to the player)
• Sullivan's trenchgun never gibs any enemies.
• Sullivan is the only one in the American campagin that had his first name revealed.

References Edit

1. ↑ In 1944, Roebuck mentioned that members of the "old breed" weren't even thirty. This means that Sullivan was anywhere from 18 to 29, although highly unlikely to be toward the lower end.
2. ↑ Hard Landing, Call of Duty: World at War.
3. ↑ During the cutscene at the start of the level after Sullivan's death, his dog-tag is shown with the name "Tom Sullivan" on it.
4. ↑ As shown on his dog-tag in the loading cutscene for "Hard Landing".