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Cornelius Anderson

Gray-haired Cornelius Anderson wearing glasses, a blue shirt and blue Airforce baseball cap

WWII Veteran Cornelius Charles (Charlie) Anderson

Cornelius Charles (Charlie) Anderson, 2007

  • Branch of Service: United States Army Air Corps
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Military Service: Aug 1942 - Oct 1945

Listen to the following sections by scrolling forward to the timecode.

:40 - Branch of service 
1:10 - Missions (lost 36 planes, 156 holes in the plane, fire in the aircraft, jump from aircraft)
4:36 - Captured and experiences in captivity (POW - Black March)
24:14 - Liberated (weighed 85 lbs) 
29:00 - How did being a POW affect your life
30:34 - Firearms (gunner) instructor 
33:02 - Memories and flashbacks 
33:25 - Final thoughts - POW camp

Cornelius Charles "Charlie" Anderson Obituary 

This story was recorded at an SDPB event in Hot Springs, SD. 

Images Provided by Cornelius Anderson
image of a young Cornelius Anderson wearing a bomber Jacket and head phones holding a machine gun

Cornelius "Charlie" Anderson holds a 50 caliber machine gun after graduating from gunnery school in November of 1942. The 50 caliber gun was the same type of gun he used as a tail gunner during WWII.

Charles Anderson, by Sabrena Pearman (Click to Read)

Image of Cornelius and Virginia Anderson holding a picture of an airplane.

Cornelius and Virginia Anderson, 2007

Mrs. Virginia Anderson, by Sabrena Pearman (Click to Read)

Image of Cornelius Charles (Charlie) Anderson in 1943 in Uniform

Cornelius Charles (Charlie) Anderson, 1943

image of Charles Anderson in uniform outside airplane in 1944

Training mission in Sioux City, Iowa, February 19th, 1944

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