World War II Honoree

Gerald Mack "Andy" Anderson

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Oakford, Arizona

Honored By

Pearl Thomas

Relationship

A Grateful American

In January 1943, he was drafted into the Army, beginning the most eventful 32 months and 18 days of his life. He arrived in Casablanca, North Africa in June 1943. From there, he went to Morocco and Tunisia, then crossed the Mediterranean, and joined the Army's famous Big Red One. In July 1943, he fought in Sicily with the 1st Infantry Division. He was assigned to the Demolition Squad, Ammunition Engineer Platoon, HQ Co 2nd Bn, 16th Infantry Regiment. In November, after fierce fighting in Sicily, his unit was shipped to England to train for D-Day. On June 6, 1944, his unit boarded the Higgins boats, from which these brave soldiers stormed the "Easy Red" section of Omaha Beach, during the Allied Forces' invasion of Normandy, where they were part of the Second Wave. His unit fought in the hedgerows across the French countryside, advancing across northern France, the Falaise Pocket, and into Germany. He was wounded by shrapnel near the end of his unit's fight in Aachen, Germany and was evacuated to England. He rejoined his platoon at the end of the Battle of Hurtgen Forest. From they, crossed the Roer River and the Remagen Bridge, where his unit successfully held the northern flank in the Battle of the Bulge. In this battle, he was wounded a second time, this time by a German mortar and shrapnel from a land mine. He stayed with his unit until shortly after V-E Day, when he returned home and was discharged from the Army in October 1945. He was decorated with two Bronze Star Medals and 2 Purple Heart Medals; a Bronze Service Arrowhead for his amphibious assault landing in combat at Normandy; the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with 1 Silver and 1 Bronze Battle Star, indicating his participation 6 campaigns and the French Legion of Honor.