In memory of
U.S. Army Air Forces, Major
Archibald Dean Anderson
Brookings, South Dakota
Brookings County
September 14, 1915 – February 26, 1945
Killed in Action in the South Pacific 

Archibald Dean Anderson was born in Sioux City, Iowa to parents Charles J. and Pearl C. Anderson.  He later moved to Brookings where he attended The State College for agriculture. He took part in many activities such as boxing, agriculture, and numerous other sports.  His mother was a house-mother for Wecota and Wenona resident’s halls on the college campus. 

“Archie” moved to California because a sinus problem required a different environment.  Here he worked in a shoe repair shop before he entered the Armed Forces in October of 1940 at the Ryan School of Aeronautics.   

Mr. Anderson served as navigator in a plane that carried Lieutenant General Millard F. Harmon over the Pacific Ocean, when his life was taken by surprise.  Harmon was the Deputy Commander of the 20^th Air Force and had been instrumental in the construction of B-29 bases in the Guam region. Depot Field was renamed Harmon Field in his honor after the plane crash. He was presumed dead on February 12, 1945, and acknowledged dead on February 26, 1945 while serving as a Major in the United States Army Air Corps.  His plane had disappeared over the South Pacific.  He was awarded an Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters and was buried at sea.  His name is recorded in the Tablets of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Although his mother, Pearl, received special government notification, she had originally heard the news about the missing plane over the radio and in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

Archie was survived by a sister, Lieutenant Lillian, of the Army Nurse Corps, a brother, Captain Rex, of the United States Army engineer corps, and his mother, Pearl C. Anderson.

This information was respectfully submitted by Jamison Lamp, seventh grade, Mickelson Middle School, Brookings, SD, May 2002. Information for this entry was provided by the Brookings Register 3/7/45, Brookings County Press 3/8/45, and www.americanwardead.com.  Articles were provided by George Norby of Images of the Past, Brookings, SD.   Mike Stowe, Accident Reports, 1322 West Main Street, Millville, NJ, also provided information.  SD application for a veteran’s bonus payment.