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Biography of
Sgt.
Leroy C. Anderson
He never set out to be a
hero. He was just a home town boy from a small place in southern
Wisconsin. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong
time. Like so many of our boys, he was caught in the war with the
Japanese when Manila was bombed later in the same day as Pearl Harbor.
He, like the rest, had no comprehension of the horrors that awaited him.
In the hearts of
each of us there is a potential for something great or a failure. We
can't really know what we can do until we are put to the test. That is what
happened with Leroy Anderson, and thousands of other men and women who
fought and surrendered at Bataan and Corrigador in 1942. When under
duress, the best was demonstrated by many men and women. This the one
of those stories. Leroy was my uncle. I was born while he was a
POW, and he never knew I existed. Yet I am one of only a few of
Sergeant Leroy Anderson's relatives living today.
Sergeant Leroy
C. Anderson, son of Mr. E. L. and Emma Foster Goessel Anderson, was born
April 2, 1918 at Burlington, Wisconsin. He was graduated from Burlington
high school in 1936 and later from a radio and television school in
Chicago.
Leroy was very
much interested in Scouting. He was an Eagle Scout and also a Scoutmaster
of Troop No. 35. After finishing school, he was employed at the Burlington
Mills.
On October 16, 1940, he
registered with the Selective Service and was inducted into the army on
January 29, 1941. He was Sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for his basic training.
Leroy then was sent to Camp Polk, Louisiana for maneuvers as part of Company
A, 192nd Tank Battalion, 32nd Division.
He came home on leave
October 6, 1941. Seven weeks later his unit landed in the Philippines at
Manila. He was there when the Japanese bombed Manila.
Leroy fought at Bataan.
On February 3, 1942, General MacArthur personally awarded Leroy the
Distinguished Service Cross. "For extraordinary heroism in action in
the vicinity of Bazac, Bataan, Philippine Islands on February 3, 1942, when
an enemy machine gun had held up the advance of our infantry, Sgt. Anderson
volunteered and received permission to take into action the reserve tank of
which he was in command in an attempt to silence the opposing hostile guns.
After a
personal reconnaissance under fire, beyond the front lines, he drove his
tank into the enemy position destroying three enemy automatic weapons and
their crews. He then proceeded to another hostile gun position destroying
at least one additional hostile before his tank was finally put out of
action. Leaving the tank, this intrepid non-commissioned officer led his
crew in a determined attack with rifles and grenades until forced back to
his own lines."
Leroy was amongst the army
that surrendered at Bataan on April 9, 1942. The stand these men made at
Bataan was the key to winning the war in the Pacific.. They felt
defeated that day, and they were told by their captors they were their
enemies beginning for them over three years of horrors. The atrocities that
followed, including the infamous Bataan Death March from Bataan to the
prisons at Manila, was beyond comprehension of the civilized mind.
Yet the surrender at Bataan was in reality a victory in disguise.
Had these men not stood their ground those four months against the Japanese aggressive
invasion, despite the lack of rations, medicine, or modern equipment, the
Japanese would have captured Australia as well, and potentially totally
destroyed the free world. The contribution of those men saved the
world from oppression and gave each of us the blessing of freedom.
There are not enough words to adequately describe the work that was
done at Bataan by these men, and was still continuing for another 27 days
on Corregidor before it too surrendered and joined the men of Bataan in
their horrors. Their sacrifice needs to be told and retold to this
generation and the generations to come. As for Leroy. on May 7,
1942, his family was officially notified that he was missing in action.
On Sept. 6, 1943 his family received a personal card from him stating he was
a prisoner of war of the Japanese in the Philippines. Leroy died
October 24, 1944 in the South China Sea on his way to slave labor camps in
Formosa.
Leroy was on board the
hellship Arisan Maru which was attacked by an American
submarine. The Japanese attacked many of the hellships on their way to
Formosa or Japan to the slave labor camps. The Japanese were removing the
POW's from the Philippines to prevent their liberation by the US forces who
were invading the Philippines to defeat the Japanese..
The Japanese didn't mark
their POW ships, and the American were attacking every Japanese ship they
could find. Thus POW on many these hellships endured the attack of
American subs. Usually the subs would later surface and rescue many of the
POW's. Yet this was not the case with the Arisan Maru as the attacking
sub was sunk by the Japanese. All but 9 of the eighteen hundred
men aboard the Arisan Maru perished in the South China Sea that day making
it the worst sea disaster ever. This was three hundred more then died
on the Titanic. It was also more the then died on the USS Indianapolis which
is credited with being the worst sea disaster in WW ll.
Eighteen hundred men
were crammed into the two holds on the Arisan Maru. The holds had once
carried animals, and their refuse had not been cleaned before the men
arrived. The prisoners were crammed so tightly they couldn't even sit or lay
down. Those who died didn't fall over as all the rest kept the
bodies in place. They were not provided with sanitary facilities, and their
only provisions were a bit of rice and a small amount of a water a day.
The ship had originally
set sail from Manila the first part of October, but it had hidden out in
southern Philippines for 10 days to avoid American bombing. They
then returned to Manila and loaded supplies for the Japanese and left
again this time for Formosa.
There were only nine
allied survivors from the Arisan Maru, all the other men died. It was
the worst sea disaster ever, 300 more than the USS Titanic. Yet this
disaster has not been made known.
The hatches of the holds
were bolted down by the Japanese after the attack before they took all the
life boats and fled the ship. The POW's somehow managed to break open
the lids of the hold, and they went out on deck. Here they helped
themselves to food any food they found and then sang "God Bless
America" before the ship broke apart and sank.
The men clung to bits of
wreckage, but since it was just after a typhoon, the seas were high. As the
night wore on, more and more men succumbed to the sea. Four of the men were
picked up out of the water by the Japanese and taken onto Japan. One of them
died before liberation. But five others happened to find an abandoned
life boat equipped with food and water. They also discovered the sail
as it floated by. One of the men knew how to navigate, and they sailed
to the coast of China.
Once they arrived in
China, the Chinese hid them and then helped them to walk 1000 to an American
base with the Japanese right behind them all the way. They made it
safely, however, and were flown back to the states to tell their stories to
officials in Washington. But they were not allowed to tell their
stories to others until much later in time.
On June 18, 1945, Leroy's
family was officially notified of his death.
November 14, 1945 at
Burlington High School, Leroy was presented posthumously the Distinguished
Cross.
The VFW Post in Burlington, Wisconsin is named the Anderson
Murphy Post 2823 after Leroy and another honored son from Burlington.
Posthumous Award
of the Distinguished Service Cross
Leroy Anderson
Burlington High School
November 14, 1945
8 o'clock p. m.
PRESENTATION
PROGRAM
BURLINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
BURLINGTON, WISCONSIN
November 14, 1945, 8 p. m.
Call to Order-Clyde M. Thomas, State Commander.
Presentation of Colors.
The National Anthem-Burlington High School Band.
Prayer by Rev. A. Pedersen.
Introduction of Distinguished Guests.
Address by Mayor Roy Hoffman.
Solo-"The Trumpet Call," Sandrason, by Mrs. George Davies; Mrs.
Harold Yonk, Accompanist.
Address by Lyall T. Beggs, National Judge Advocate, Veterans of Foreign
Wars.
Solo-"America the Beautiful," by Mrs. George Davies; Mrs. Harold
Yonk, Accompanist.
Awarding of Cross by Capt. R. K. Rath.
Benediction by Rev. A. Pedersen.
Retirement of Colors.
THIS PROGRAM
SPONSORED BY
THE ANDERSON-MURPHY POST NO. 2823 VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS
BURLINGTON, WIS.
******
Leelia Cornell -
Niece of Sgt Leroy
Anderson
bowdharp@mindspring.com
Baby Leroy Anderson
Leroy Anderson on the right - after basic training
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