It was more than a little humbling for Rayford Anderson when newspaper icon Walter Winchell mentioned him in a column after he returned from the Pacific in World War II.
Winchell related how Anderson had led a force to free American POWs at Bilibid Prison in the Philippines in 1945:
“‘We are Yanks! Cover over here!’ shouted Sgt. R.A. Anderson of Jessup, Ga., leading a reconnaissance force to the Bilibid penitentiary in the heart of Manila, after knocking out a shutter with his rifle butt. The Civil War must be over when a lad from Georgia yells, ‘We are Yanks!’”
Rayford Woodrow Anderson, 93, of Riverdale died Monday from complications of a stroke and cancer. Funeral services will be held at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at the Chapel of Mowell Funeral Home in Fayetteville, with a graveside service following at Camp Memorial Park.
Mr. Anderson’s list of decorations for four years’ service in the Pacific Theater includes nearly a dozen medals and ribbons, including the Bronze Star Medal and Oak Leaf Cluster Bronze Large; Purple Heart and Oak Leaf Cluster Bronze Large; and the Presidential Unit Citation.
So many medals but, sadly, nothing to wear them on.
Normally, upon discharge from the service, the Army gave soldiers a new uniform. But at the time of Mr. Anderson’s service, the warehouse where the suits were kept burned. It was about the only war story Mr. Anderson shared with his four children.
His eldest son, Gary, recalled growing up hearing his father tell how he never got that uniform.
“There was a lady at our church who worked for Gov. Sonny Perdue who heard about it, and she told me she’d see what she could do,” Gary Anderson said.
Several months later in September 2010, the congregation at Harvest Point United Methodist Church listened while Gary Anderson spoke about his “Little-Known Hero,” a regular feature at the church. It was here that Rayford Anderson was presented with an authentic vintage World War II Army uniform secured from a museum in Macon, replete with all his service medals, patches and ribbons.
It was no easy task, Gary Anderson said, because his father was not a big man — about 5 feet 4 inches tall and 120 pounds.
“When the pastor took over, we went out and got him to put the uniform on, and at the end of the service, we came back in,” Gary Anderson said. “He got a little misty that day, I think.”
Following his military service, Mr. Anderson returned to Georgia, where he married his longtime sweetheart, Susie Jeanette Johns, in 1946. Mr. Anderson enjoyed many professions during his lifetime, including a stint as a forest ranger, but he was mainly known as a commercial lift truck mechanic.
Susie Anderson died in 2009.
Their son Randy recalled how his parents used to joke about the “Swiss cheese” letters they exchanged during the war — loving sentiments on paper that had been censored by the military for security purposes.
“Dad was very much a homebody. Church and family were his priorities,” daughter Susan Leatherwood said. “He enjoyed fishing and gardening. At 92, he still put in a garden himself, and he always got pleasure from giving away the vegetables.”
Daughter Brenda Rutledge recalled her father as a committed family man who grew a little more comfortable talking about his military service in his later years.
“As most veterans did, he came home and tried to pick up where he left off,” she said. “They did their duty, and they came back and began raising families.”
About the Author
