WW2 Fallen 100: WWII Operation Husky Fallen

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

WWII Operation Husky Fallen - Gene Andersen, USNR

Fireman Gene Andersen served in the US Navy during Operation Husky.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/75706388/eugene-phillip-andersen
https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/1943/sicilian-campaign/husky-images.html

Eugene Philip "Gene" Andersen never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

If you have enjoyed reading the stories of the WWII fallen, Can you help write some stories? It's a big project. The more help, the better.

Announcing "The Stories Behind the Stars", see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org.

This crowd-sourced national project has the goal of compiling stories of all 400,000+ of the US World War II fallen in one free-to-access central database. We are going to need a lot of volunteers.

Anyone visiting a war memorial or gravesite will be able to scan the name of the fallen with a smartphone and his story will appear on the phone.

Gene was born on July 21, 1920 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. His parents Alfred and Nellie (Babcock), who lived past 100, were also both born in Iowa. His father worked as a furniture store laborer and later as a furniture crater. Still later he was employed as a stock keeper. Gene had two younger brothers and two younger sisters. By 1940 Gene had completed four years of high school and was still living at home. He found work as a warehouse man.

He volunteered for the navy in June 1942. He reached the rank of fireman first class. Navy Muster Roll for August 31, 1943 shows Eugene P Andersen F1c on USS LST#3. It appears LST#3 was involved in Operation Husky and was damaged about that time. Fireman Andersen was killed in action on August 6, 1943. At this point in the campaign the Americans were advancing east along the north side of Sicily. The navy was supporting landings that put Americans behind enemy lines. The US Navy lost 546 killed or missing during the Sicily operation.

His grave is at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Thank you Fireman Anderson for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Gene.

This is one of the final 50 stories (44) to be written as part of this project which ends on September 2, 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. At that time more than 1,370 men and women will have been profiled. The project will live on in an expanded program to write the stories of all 400,000+ US World War II fallen. Visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org to learn more. We welcome your continued support and interest and encourage you to help write some of these stories.

Last year on this date I profiled James Bromley, 1st Armored Division. You can read about James here.

On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!

I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.

Follow on Twitter @ww2fallen100
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100