World War II Honoree
Killed in World War II
Leroy Clark Anderson
Branch of Service
U.S. Army
Hometown
Burlington, Wisconsin
Honored By
Orville L. Kline
Rank: Sergeant. Inducted into the United States Army January 29, 1941 at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After completing the required training phases at Fort Knox, Kentucky, he was deployed to the Philippine Islands Location: Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations. He served as a Tank Crewman, assigned to Alpha Company, 192nd Tank Battalion, and a subordinate unit of the Provisional Tank Group. His unit participated in the Battle of the Philippines, the conquest of the Philippines by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces. While retreating to the Bataan Peninsula, he was captured Thursday, April 9, 1942 during the ensuing Bataan Battle. The enemy subjected him to participate in the Bataan Death March, with incarceration at the Prisoner of War Camp #2 Davao Mindanao Island. Wednesday, October 11, 1944 he boarded the Japanese ‘Hell Ship’ Arisan Maru Destination: Japan via Formosa. Reported Missing in Action or buried at sea Tuesday, October 24, 1944 when the transport was torpedoed, and sunk in the Bashi Channel, South China Sea by a U.S. Submarine. In remembrance of the brave, his name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Location: Fort Bonifacio, Manila, Philippine Islands. In his Memory and Honor, a cenotaph memorial has been placed at the Graceland Cemetery in Racine, Wisconsin. This American Patriot received the following decorations posthumously: Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster. The Distinguished Service Cross was awarded to the Sergeant for extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force, and the Purple Heart, for his Heroism and ultimate sacrifice.