World War II Honoree

LaRoy H. Anderson

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Redmond, Utah

Honored By

Robin Anderson

Relationship

Son

As a civilian, he worked at the Tooele Army Depot doing deliveries at age 17. At age 18, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Fort Bliss. There he was trained on the 20 millimeter Anti-Aircraft and the 50 caliber machine guns. After training, he was sent to Camp Stoneman. While there, he was convinced to re-enlist early for the duration of WWII plus 18 months. From Camp Stoneman he then went to the Philippine Islands where they were to set up anti-aircraft defenses after it was recaptured from Japan. While on the ship, the war with Japan ended and so did their assignment. He stayed in Manila for just a short time, then his unit headed for Japan as an occupying force. In Japan, he expected hostile conditions, but instead found the Japanese people to be very polite and courteous. His unit helped establish Camp Sendai in Japan. After he was there for a while, he went over to Camp Koriyama for Automotive mechanics training. After that, he went back to Camp Sendai as the Motor Sergeant of A Company. When his time was up, he came home from Japan and became part of the Inactive Reserves.