June 20, 2014

Oroville Mercury Register
April 1st 1948
“Some Gave All”
Graveside rites for Marine Corps Pvt. Donald Anderson of Bangor will be held April 10 at 2PM at the Bangor Cemetery. The body of Pvt. Anderson is scheduled to arrive here today escorted by a Marine Corps honor guard. Pvt. Anderson was killed on Iwo Jima and his body was returned from the island March 22 aboard the Army Transport Walter Schwenk. Services are under the direction of Hamilton and Riley’s.

Oroville Mercury Register
April 1st 1948
Photo Caption: The players shown above had just won out over Dan’s Calculators for the city basketball championship 36-27, when the picture was taken at Municipal Auditorium Tuesday night.
The Oroville Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who sponsored the winning team, will join the Recreation Department in presenting each player with a gold basketball in honor of the victory. Left to right Jesus Gomez, Herman Quintel and Gene Casagrande, rear row, Don Casagrande, Roger Van Duzer, Richard Baldry, city recreation director; Bruce Earle and Darby Uren.

Oroville Mercury
April 9, 1945
Bangor Boy Dies On Iwo
Mr. & Mrs. Ed Anderson of Oakland, formerly of Bangor, have been notified that the action, in which their son Donald gave his life March 3, took place on Iwo Jima. He was 23 years of age, a member of the Fourth Division United States Marine Corps. He was a graduate of Oroville High School class of 1939, and had lived in Bangor until 1941 when the family moved to Oakland. He had a wide circle of friends in Bangor and Oroville and on his last furlough, September, 1943 he visited here.

Oroville Mercury
April 10, 1945
Tribute Paid to Donald Anderson
Solemn tribute was paid Friday night at the meeting of Wyandotte Grange to Donald Anderson, killed in action while serving his country in the South Pacific.

Stu says:
The men in the picture caption all served overseas and joined the local Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion just a short time after WWII. Fast forward to now as I’ve observed as a non-veteran that the young men and women of today come home and go on with life and don’t join the veterans groups that are needing new members all the time for the survival of those groups that have been a big part of America for so long. I do know the dedicated men and women of our local Honor Guard. They serve on a short notice to go to the cemeteries in Butte County. In the future they will need help to keep this great service to veterans at the end of his or her life. If you have ever observed any of what they do you surely were impressed as I always am. And sadly someday they will need this service. Will the young veterans be there to carry on, I truly hope so. D-Day, and rightfully so, was in the news a lot recently as it was the 70th year anniversary of that day so many men died. Let’s hope that the many battles of the rest of the war up to V-E and V - J Day are in the news just as much. Upcoming some of the 70th anniversaries is a bridge too far, the Battle of the Bulge crossing of the Rhine and in the Pacific. So many little Islands that our men died on are mostly forgotten. Some of the more well know Iwo Jima – four Oroville men, maybe more, died there. The Philippines, Okinawa of course the 70th anniversary of some of the battles in the south pacific down Australia way have already passed there 70th year anniversary with little fan fair. Did you ever read much about the 70th anniversary of Guadalcanal, Saipan, Tarawa etc. Some of the most vicious fighting of WWII was in the south pacific.

We know so little of Don Anderson. Hopefully some one knows more. I lost contact with Sus Gomez, I know he was involved with landing craft in WWII, I would sure like to talk to him again.