SGT. ANDERSON OF STRATFORD GIVEN HONORS
Ball Turret Gunner Wins Silver Star for Gallant Action.
Washington, D. C.—The war department Friday announced award of the Silver Star to Staff Sgt. Swen V. Anderson, Stratford, Iowa, for “gallantry, skill and utter disregard for his own personal safety” while serving as a ball turret gunner of a B-17 on a bombing mission over Germany, Feb. 21, 1944.
Sergeant Anderson’s citation said that though wounded, he had remained at his guns and continued to fight off attacking planes until failure of his oxygen system forced him to leave his turret.
Back in States
Staff Sergeant Anderson, son of Mrs. Oliver Anderson who lives six miles south of Stratford, is now back in this country receiving medical treatment for the wounds suffered in the Feb. 21 bombing mission. The Stratford gunner lost his left hand and forearm and is now stationed at a New York hospital where he has been for the past three weeks.
Anderson, who is 27 years old, has been in the service for nearly two years and had been overseas since last November. In letters to his mother and his wife, who lives with his mother, he never mentioned how many missions he had been on or the details of the raid in which he was wounded.
Holds Air Medal
He had mentioned being cited for the Silver Star award and also the Purple Heart. He also holds the Air Medal for completing the necessary number of bombing missions.
Staff Sgt. Anderson’s plans for the future are indefinite pending healing of his injury, but he does plan on being home on a short sick leave in the near future.
NOTES:
Swen Vernon ‘Vernon’ Anderson was born Dec. 17, 1916 to Oliver Sven and Amanda Sophia Swanson Anderson. He died Feb. 11, 1972 and is buried in Union Woodland Cemetery, McGregor, MN.
Sources: ancestry.com
