Llewellyn W. Anders

Llewellyn Anders was born and raised in Shinglehouse, Pennsylvania. After completing high school, he went to work for a Ford Motor Company garage as a mechanic.

Shortly after signing his enlistment paperwork in January 1942, Anders was on his way to Parris Island, South Carolina. He completed boot camp and was sent to Hawaii, where he took a post with the Marine Barracks at the Pearl Harbor Naval Air Station. There he remained until the spring of 1944.

By July 1944, Corporal Anders was back on the mainland – in fact, he had re-crossed the country and was serving as an MP at Camp Lejeune. The need for seasoned NCOs was so great by the end of that year that Anders found himself undergoing re-training as a rifle company corporal. He headed back to the Pacific in April, 1945, and joined up with Company C, 24th Marines a few weeks after they returned from Iwo Jima.

Corporal Anders was commanding a fire team with Company C when the war ended. After his battalion disbanded in October 1945, Anders served an additional three months as an MP before his four-year enlistment ended. He was honorably discharged on January 25, 1946.

“Dutch” Anders returned to Pennsylvania, where he married and raised a family before his death in 1987. He is buried in Maple Grove Cemetery, Shinglehouse, PA.

NOTES:
(1) The origins of the “Dutch” Anders nickname are unknown; Anders was of British and American descent, and his home town was far from the traditional “Pennsylvania Dutch” area. It may have been an inside joke with the Marines, or given after the war. Either way, it was easier to pronounce than his unusual tongue-twisting first name – the 1940 census taker gave up, and filled in “Lou Ellen Anders” on his form.