D-Day was almost 72 years ago, but the memories are still
vibrant, the pain of the losses hasn’t faded, and many mysteries remain
unsolved. We’re pleased to report, however, that this month one of the heroes
of D-Day will come home and receive the long-overdue recognition which
circumstances until now have denied him. It’s a compelling story.
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| John E. Anderson |
John Emanuel Anderson of Willmar, Minnesota, was a Motor
Machinist Mate 1st Class in the US Navy on June 6, 1944. He served
as part of the crew of LCT-30 (Landing Craft Tank), delivering part of an
anti-aircraft battalion to Omaha Beach in the thick of the fight. That noble
vessel entered the field of D-Day legend with a “damn-the-torpedoes” charge
against the beach obstacles, many of which had been submerged by rising tide by
the time LCT-30 arrived.
Although the ship completed its mission safely, in
withdrawing from the beach it was hit by a German shell and the engine room
where Anderson was stationed flooded. He was the only fatality reported in
official records for that craft; however for reasons never fully explained his
body was listed as not recovered.
(The rest of the crew abandoned ship and hit the beach,
where several were wounded by enemy fire or shrapnel. They were eventually able
to evacuate, but their beached vessel, now without a working engine, remained
for days afterwards and is seen in the background of many post-D-day photos).
Some assumed Anderson had been buried at sea by his
shipmates later. Others that his body washed out into the channel, never to be
seen again. What didn’t occur to anyone was that his remains and his identity
might have simply become separated.
Back in Willmar, Anderson’s parents and family mourned. They
no doubt relived their grief, mixed with a twinge of pride, when John’s name
went onto the “Tablets of the Missing” at the Normandy-American cemetery. And
they went to their own graves never knowing where the mortal remains of their
son were.
Now fast forward to 2009. A researcher (who has made it his
mission to help give a name to the unidentified remains of American military personnel)
contacted John Anderson’s family. An elderly sister survived; plus many of the
next generation who felt immense pride in their kinsman’s service. The
researcher claimed to have evidence that John’s body had not, in fact, been
lost at sea, but had been recovered from LCT-30 and had been listed as unidentified
burial X-91, lying in an anonymous grave in Normandy.
The only way to be sure, however, was to do DNA testing on
surviving relatives and on the remains in X-91. The family was more than
willing, but the military took much more convincing. What they hoped would be a
matter of months turned into more than six years.
However, patience and persistence paid off, and last fall
the remains were disinterred and brought to the US for DNA testing. The results
were conclusive. The body in X-91 could only be that of John E. Anderson. Later
this month, he will be laid to rest next to his parents in Wilmar in a special
ceremony.
It’s been six dozen years since 2,499 American men laid down
their lives in a valiant effort to complete their mission in Normandy. One of
those men now has come home. A 72-year-old mystery has been solved; a grieving
family now has closure to a painful memory of loss. We as a nation can take the
opportunity to honor John Anderson and the other men who died alongside him.
They completed their mission to, in Ike’s words on that fateful day, “bring
about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi
tyranny over oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free
world.”
Welcome home, Petty Officer Anderson, and may you rest in
peace beneath the brilliant blue skies of Minnesota. The National D-Day
Memorial will be sure your legacy of valor, fidelity and sacrifice never fades.
-John
