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name
ANDERSON, Melvin Carl - Date of
birth
12 December 1912 -
Age
31 -
Place of birth
Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri -
Hometown
Douglas County, Nebraska
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
37153333 -
Rank
Sergeant -
Function
Tank Commander -
Unit
803rd Tank Destroyer Battalion
-
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
25 November 1944 - Place of
death
Hürtgen Forest, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten -
Walls of the Missing
* This soldier has been accounted for. A rosette has been placed next to his name.
Immediate family
-
Members
Carl O. Anderson (father)
Ellen S. (Johnson) Anderson (mother)
Edith E.C. Anderson (sister)
Verner L. Anderson (brother)
Elmer G. Anderson (brother)
Violette H. Anderson (sister)
More information
Sgt Melvin C. Anderson worked in the dry cleaning business prior to joining the Army in 1942.His tank destroyer took a direct hit
There were five men in the tank - three were killed and two escaped. Eyewitness accounts by the survivors said that Sgt Anderson was hit, but was trying to escape the burning tank destroyer. In the confusion, the two survivors lost track of him.
When the unit returned to the site two days after the attack, they found the burned out shell of the tank destroyer, but there were no bodies inside or out. The eyewitnesses also stated that the tank destroyer had broken thru the forest and was located on the outside edge of the forest when they were hit.
On 11 May 2018 the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that the remains of Sgt. Melvin C. Anderson were found and identified on 30 April 2018, buried in a grave at an ABMC cemetery as an unknown. A rosette will be placed next to his name at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten to indicate he has been accounted for.
More information will follow (information added November 2025).
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.ancestry.com - Anderson-Johnson Family Tree, Omaha World Herald 28 August 1945, http://www.geni.com
Photo source: Peter Schouteten, http://www.geni.com, Jon Strupp