A visit in remembrance of Ensign Lawrence Anderson

On my trips to Mount Olivet Cemetery to visit family gravesites (my grandparents Thomas F. and Mary E. O’Brien, and Roger and Margaret Ryan; my parents John J. and Mary I. Ryan; my infant brother James and my brother-in-law Bill Hart), I always pass the Waukon gravesite of Lawrence “Bud” Anderson and say a prayer.

Ensign Lawrence Anderson was stationed at Pearl Harbor aboard the U.S.S. Arizona that fateful December 7, 1941, the day that President Franklin D. Roosevelt noted, “will live in infamy”. It was one of those days that we of that era can generally remember where we were when we heard the news.

December 7, 1941 was the day of the Annual Bazaar in the gym at St. Patrick’s in Waukon. Amid all the activities of the dinner, the booths of chance, “the fish pond” (a favorite of mine), Father E.J. McDonald appeared on the balcony and called for our attention. He announced the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, that “dastardly deed”. A hush fell upon the crowd and a gloom over the day. Most people hurried home to listen to periodic reports coming over the radio. 1941 was before television!

“Bud” Anderson was Waukon’s first casualty of World War II. His ship, the U.S.S. Arizona, was a primary target of the Japanese air raid. In a town as small and as “tight knit” as Waukon his death was felt by the entire community. The Court House flag flew at half-mast for three days.

His parents, Mr. and Mrs. August Anderson, had been expecting him home for Christmas. Everyone knew the family, Robert, Paul, Ralph and Marjorie. “Bud” was nine years older than I, so we were not classmates or schoolmates or even personal friends, but, as we so often say in Waukon, “I knew of him”.

I was on ceremony, as an altar boy, for the Memorial Solemn High Mass Tuesday, December 16 celebrated by Fr. E.J. McDonald, then pastor at St. Patrick’s, assisted by Fr. Joseph Krocheski and Fr. Patrick Norton of Hanover.

The Waukon Republican and Standard (December 17, 1941) reported Fr. McDonald sermon in these words: “Lawrence had paid the supreme sacrifice in the service of his country, and because of that sacrifice his memory will ever be cherished not only by his family but by his many friends. He added that patriotism to one’s country is one of the noblest virtues any man can have. Even though it was one of America’s darkest hours, there was no doubt that Lawrence Anderson stood ready to do his part in defending his country and that he was ready, in his religious beliefs, to meet his Master.”

Before the war ended, I was drafted and served in the Infantry. On my way to the Marshall and Caroline Islands in the Pacific, our flag ship, ACG-7 Mount McKinley, stopped at Pearl Harbor. We did so again on our return. In both cases we visited “Pearl” but, as of then, no memorial had yet been designed to honor those who died there.

I had been assigned staff duty as Administrative Assistant to the Chief of Transportation for Operations Crossroads. Operations Crossroads was the first post-war Joint Military Operation to further test the atom bomb. Crossroads or JTF-One, as it was designated, proceeded to Bikini Atoll in Summer 1946 for the detonation of the fourth (air) and fifth (underwater) tests of the atom bomb.

My resolve, after those Summer 1946 visits to Pearl Harbor, was to return sometime whenever a memorial to the U.S.S. Arizona was completed, to salute the memory of Ensign Lawrence Anderson.

Last August 5, 2005 provided me the perfect opportunity. I was invited to Honolulu to participate in the 25th Anniversary of the Society for Business Ethics of the United States and Canada, of which I was a founder and later President. This occasion included an opportunity to go to Hawaii earlier. That situation provided me the occasion to fulfill a promise of long ago to make “A pilgrimage to the watery tomb” of those who died that December 7 aboard the U.S.S. Arizona and to salute, with a prayer, the memory of my Waukon compatriot.

Today, no visit to Honolulu is complete without a visit to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial and a related visit to the U.S.S. Missouri, the ship on which General Douglas McArthur received the Instrument of Surrender in Tokyo Bay.

These visits can be made on one’s own, but most people sign up with a local tour company. Taking a tour arranges the details and guided tours gain some small advantage in the admission process. Hotel pick-up for these tours are early (in my case 7 a.m.) because visitors to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial number daily in the thousands.

We arrived at the Memorial Park by 8 a.m. My group joined a serpentine line walking one block north, one block west, then one block south. We were now near our starting point, but forming a new inside line. We again walked one block north and one west before reaching the entrance to the Memorial Pavilion.

Security was tight. Signs reminded visitors that “Due To Increased Security Measures No Backpacks, Fanny Packs, Diaper Bags, Camera Bags, Purses, Luggage, Shopping Bags or Large Cameras were permitted.” Lots of people were overloaded with tourist gear and so were disappointed or rushed back to their cars or buses to unload the unwelcome items.

Visitors approach the Pavilion via a slightly inclining ramp to the ticket takers where entrance is verified. The foyer of the open air pavilion includes displays of Pearl Harbor and the U.S.S. Arizona. The Pavilion is open and compact with a Palm Tree courtyard and a Memorial area. A visitor can rent pre-recorded tapes for the visit since tour guides do not accompany their groups. The Pavilion includes waiting areas for the launches which take visitors to the Memorial, a museum, gift shop, rest room facilities, a vending machine and snack bar area served by several cashier lines.

The launch waiting time is not long. The launches are staffed by Navy and Coast Guard service personnel. From the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial Park and Pavilion the boat ride is about ten minutes across the sea blue lagoon. The launch holds several hundred persons. Once docked, passengers proceed through a small ante way into the pillared memorial.

Visitors are greeted with a plaque which reads:

"Dedicated To the Eternal Memory Of Our Gallant Shipmates Who Gave their Lives in Action 7 December 1941

"From today on the U.S.S. Arizona will again fly our country's flag just as proudly as she did on the morning of December 7, 1941. I am sure the Arizona’s crew will know and appreciate what we are doing.”

Admiral A.W. Raford, USN

May God Make His Face To Shine Upon Them And Grant Them Peace."

The site inspires a prayerful silence. The ship’s anchor is on display and various plaques tell of the heroism of that day. The centerpiece of the U.S.S. Arizona replica is the wall identifying the heroes of that fateful day. The monumental wall bears the designation:

"To the memory of the Gallant Men Here Entombed and their shipmates Who gave their lives in Action On December 7, 1941 on the U.S.S. Arizona."

My eye immediately was turned to the alphabetical listing of these “Gallant men”. There among the others was “L.D. Anderson, Ens”.

There was no time limit for the visit. The crowd was hushed - almost everyone speaking in a whisper or very softly. The irritations, impatience and annoyance evident in the entry waiting lines had evaporated. People were quiet, almost hushed and respectful. The U.S.S. Arizona Memorial had a church-like solitude.

Others like myself were seeking out names of family or friends they remembered. It was a spiritual experience.

Last Veterans Day, Joan Leschensky Grosshuesch wrote a warm, personal tribute to “Our Hometown Hero”. This Memorial Day, I add these lines about my promise to visit the “watery tomb” of our Waukon hero, Lawrence “Bud” Anderson.

It is a pilgrimage fulfilled on behalf of myself and all hometown folk who remember that day and Ensign Lawrence Anderson but who cannot personally visit the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial.