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name
ANDERSON, Ralph J - Date of
birth
6 January 1922 -
Age
23 - Place of
birth
Oconee County, South Carolina -
Hometown
Greenwood County, South Carolina
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
14007737 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
unknown -
Unit
G Company,
2nd Battalion,
13th Infantry Regiment,
8th Infantry Division
-
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Finding of Death - Date of
death
1 December 1945 - Place of
death
In the vicinity of Kleinhau-Brandenberg, Hürtgen Forest, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten - Walls of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
James E. Anderson (father)
Jewell (Reeves) Anderson (wife)
More information
S/Sgt Ralph J. Anderson worked on a farm.He joined the Regular Army at Fort Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina on 24 September 1940.
According to reports of the 13th Infantry Regiment of 30 November 1944, the regiment was in the vicinity of Kall during the time that S/Sgt Anderson was reported missing in action. He was part of a reconnaissance patrol on a mission to locate enemy positions. When the patrol returned to the lines, it was fired upon by machine guns. The patrol scattered on the north side of the Kall River. S/Sgt Anderson did not return. A patrol was send out for a visual search. German prisoners were captured who could tell that they believed a wounded American prisoner was taken. They couldn't tell who.
S/Sgt Anderson was officially decleared dead one day and one year after he was reported missing in action.
Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, www.wwiimemorial.com,
www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, The Greenville News
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, The Greenville News