Local WWII vet recalls living next door to General Doolittle

Before serving in World War II as a master sergeant in General George Patton’s Army, Frank Anderson grew up next door to another legendary general.

The 104-year-old Westminster Village resident remembers well conversations around the dinner table about that neighbor — future General Jimmy Doolittle.

Anderson’s father served in the Army Air Corps, and the family knew Doolittle three decades before he led the daring bombing raid over Tokyo in 1942.

“We were on a primitive base on the Mexican border,” Anderson told the Rotary Club of Blytheville Thursday. “And you’ll never guess who my next-door neighbor was — Lt. Jimmy Doolittle. He was a hard guy to keep up with and he was always in trouble with the base commander. So I was 6 years old in 1919 and I was sitting at the table, listening to my folks talk. They were always telling in the evening meal what Jimmy had done wrong during the day.”

Doolittle, of course, would go on to have a decorated military career that spanned from World War I to the Cold War.

The Doolittle Raid in April 1942 required tremendous skill as it was the first American attack on the Japanese mainland.

Even at 104, Anderson still has vivid memories of World War II and articulates well those experiences he had serving his country.

“If I could think about the things I’ve seen in these years I would say to you know that I’m happy I saw World War II come to an end because I served with General Walker,” Anderson told Rotarians. “He was Patton’s pride and joy. Walker was 5-foot-5; Patton was 6-foot-3. But Patton picked Walker to be his spearhead corp commander.”

“Patton won the war; Walker ended it,” he added. “I’m happy I got to see both things.”

Anderson fought in the war for four years, training in England for the pivotal invasion.

“On the day that the invasion started, General Walker’s corps was ordered to get into Liberty ships out of Southampton,” Anderson said. “We got on those ships and we stayed for 11 days…Then we landed on the French Sainte-Mere-Eglise on the French coast. Walker then was directed to join up with Patton as the spearhead corps for the U.S. Seregam, which was not yet committed to action. The day we joined the Third Army is the day the war started for General Walker’s corps.”

From Sainte-Mere-Eglise, he recalls going up through the coast. “The 19th Tactical Air Command had so destroyed the path in front of us, as far as I’m concerned they won the war too,” Anderson said.

Anderson noted the barrage obliterated streets and infrastructure.

“I was in my Jeep and I looked down nine feet to see the city streets and what was left of the town,” Anderson said. “Now that’s an idea of what artillery can do for you.”

He said the 20th Corps took Verdun, France, and afterward the French provided the Americans with images of World War I.

And Anderson gained a new perspective.

“I was not prepared for what I saw,” Anderson said. ‘The Verdun fields had been interlaced with trenches because it was a trench warfare. The bombardment was so intense that it had filled in all those trenches and there were 600 French soldiers still in the trenches. They were never recovered. That gave me a lesson about trench warfare, and I’m glad we didn’t have it in World War II because there is no answer to what’s coming down from the top if you’re in a trench.”

Anderson said World War II changed dramatically at Metz as troops went into Germany proper.

“That was the toughest place that I had ever seen in my service,” Anderson said. “We could have used (Rotarian and National Guard helicopter pilot) Billy Curl’s helicopters because the Germans had put up a lot of fake trees. Behind each tree was a machine gun. If we had Billy, we could have seen what was taking place, but we didn’t see it. Anyway, we persevered. General Walker had a plan. I know because I heard it. General Walker decided he was never going to force his way against the Germans behind revetments. Never! The idea was to circle and partition and it worked. The Metz enclave was the end of World War II for one reason: no longer were the Germans on the offensive, they were now forced to defend the fatherland, and it was a whole different war. Once they realized they were defending their fatherland, they slowly retreated fighting all the way back. There’s where we took the fighter bombers from the 19th Tactical Air Command. They forced the Germans to come out of retreat and out of revetment and walk back.”

Anderson remembers looking across the river on May 4, 1945 and seeing Russian tanks in battle formation.

“I knew then it was just a matter of a couple of days,” he said. “The 9th of May, we met the Russians at the bridge over the Enns river. My general walked up to the men who were on the bridge and shook hands with General Birokoff from the Russian side. When he did that, the Russians turned around and gave him a big Russian bear hug. He wasn’t used to that, but when he shook hands with Birokoff the war ended the 9th of May. I don’t care what you read in the paper, who signs peace treaties and stuff like that. The war ends when the other guy quits.”

Anderson told the story of meeting one Russian soldier who he will never forget.

“About 40 of the Russians came across the river, and they brought with them a broken English interpreter,” Anderson said. “He was also a communist. I saw a rather elderly gentleman who was different from the young ones. I asked the interpreter could I speak with him. He said, ‘sure.’ He introduced me to this gentleman; he had more medals than he had chest. We talked a little. He was from a small village and hadn’t been home in two years. He got a letter from his sister; it took six months for him to get the letter through the war. His sister told him that the little village had been spared, and he was very happy. But they wanted to see him help bring in new crops…I asked this gentleman, ‘is it true that you have women in the service?’ He said, ‘sure. My tank commander is a woman.’ He said, ‘you don’t use them, do you?’ And I said, ‘hell no.’ He said ‘they die too.’”

“When I saw this gentleman, I thought about a couple of things,” he continued. “He was going to be able to walk across the bridge and go home without being in harm’s way for the first time. He told me that four years before, when his unit was formed, not a single man existed today.”

Before the elderly Russian soldier went back over the bridge, Anderson gave him a gift of sorts.

He asked if anyone had cigarettes and managed to find a pack to give away.

“There was only six or eight cigarettes in it,” Anderson said. “It was in a green pack and something seemed familiar. I looked closely and I decided to give it to him. And I looked at the big letters on there: LSMFT. What is that? Lucky Strike Means Flying Tobacco. That’s what he said. You would think he was looking at jewels. The interpreter told me they are too pretty to smoke. I said that’s for him to have. We got to the bridge and the interpreter said he wants to say something to you in appreciation. He couldn’t speak English. I saw him write letters on a little piece of paper. The interpreter gave it to me. As soon as he got over the bridge and walked away, I opened it up. I said, I can read that, it was LSMFT.”

“War is terrible, but it has its funny sides every now and then,” he added.

On July 4, Anderson threw out the first pitch at a Memphis Redbirds game. Video of the pitch went viral and was aired on several national networks.

“I’m glad the United States of America today has a flag that flies over Washington,” Anderson said. “I love that flag and I love the guys that served with it and so should you.”