WILLIAM L. ANDERSON:

Staff Sergeant William Lewis Anderson was born at Proctor, Minnesota on November 21, 1920. He came to Minneapolis with his parents in 1921. He attended Tuttle grade school and Marshall High School, graduating in 1939. In 1939 he enrolled at the University of Minnesota, and was in his second year there when his Minnesota National Guard unit was called to duty.

Bill Anderson joined the guard in 1939, and after training at Camp Claiborne and Camp Dix went overseas to Ireland and Scotland. In November 1942 he landed at Oran, Tunisia with the Medical Detachment of the 175th Field Artillery of the 34th Division. He served through the African campaign. In September of 1943 the Division landed at Salerno, Italy, to begin a slow march through that country. On the morning of January 17, 1944 Bill was struck down by a burst of artillery fire as he was giving first aid to a wounded comrade near the village of San Pietro, which is located a few miles from Mt. Cassino. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart.

Anderson had planned to go to medical school after the war to become a surgeon.

Bill Anderson was the son of Godfrey W. Anderson and his wife Emma. He had two brothers, Robert and Roger. The elder Anderson was a World War I veteran and an attorney who practiced law briefly at Proctor before going to work as a claims agent for the Soo Line Railroad.

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The collection consists mostly of correspondence, especially letters from Anderson while serving overseas. There is some correspondence between Anderson's father and government officials. There is also a file of correspondence (continuing until 1976) between the elder Anderson and Dr. Sidney Kopet, who served in the army with Anderson and who went on to become a physician in New York State after the war.

There is a file of information about Anderson's death in combat, and there are some papers relating to the Purple Heart awarded to Anderson. There are some formal portrait photographs of Anderson and some of his classmates as seniors at Marshall High School, Minneapolis (1939). Two scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings about Camp Claiborne and other information about Anderson's military years.

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Access Restriction:

Due to partial nudity, access to one photograph is limited to persons age 18 and older.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. William L. Anderson Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: 16,107, 16,463

Processing Information:

Processed by: David B. Peterson, April 2007; addition made April 2010.

Catalog ID number: 990063840110104294

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The papers of William L. Anderson's brother. Robert W. Anderson, are also available at the Minnesota Historical Society.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Cassino, Battle of, Cassino, Italy, 1944.

Purple Heart.

Soldiers -- Social life and customs.

Soldiers' writings, American.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Italy.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Tunisia.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Casualties.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, American.

Places:

Camp Claiborne (La.).

United States -- Armed forces -- Medical personnel.

Persons:

Anderson, Godfrey W.

Kopat, Sidney J.

Organizations:

Minnesota. National Guard.

Marshall High School (Minneapolis, Minn.).

United States. Army -- Military life.

United States. Army. Field Artillery, 175th.

Types of Documents:

Photographs.

Scrapbooks.

Occupations:

Artillerymen -- United States.

Soldiers -- United States.

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