John Alfred "Jack" Anderson is one of eleven United States Navy sailors who disappeared following the sinking of the USS Worden on January 12, 1943.
Background[]
John Anderson was born to Archibald and Emily Anderson in 1921 in Idaho. Growing up in Priest River, Idaho, he was known to his friends as Jack. On December 4, 1940, he enlisted in the United States Navy and was assigned as an Electrician's Mate, Third Class to the USS Worden. Anderson participated in several battles in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, including the Attack on Pearl Harbor where he was reported MIA for four days, the Coral Sea Battle, the Battle of Guadalcanal, and the Battle of the Midway. Between battles he visited his parents multiple times, one time in June of 1940 and another time in November of 1942.
Disappearance[]
During the Aleutian Islands Campaign, a strong current swept the destroyer USS Worden onto a pinnacle that tore into a hull beneath the engine room and caused a complete loss of power. The destroyer then broached and began breaking up in the surf that an evacuation was ordered. The crew of the Worden, who were just dispatched from the South Pacific via California, were inexperienced and received little, if any, artic training. Most had stripped to their underwear before diving in the Bering Sea because they mistakenly thought their navy pea coats and pants would cause them to drown. In reality, the sailors in the water drowned or succumbed to hypothermia without shirts and pants.
However, most of the crew of the USS Worden survived and were picked up by the USS Dewey (DD-349) and the USS Arthur Middleton (APA-25). Fourteen of the sailors, including Anderson, were killed, but only three were recovered and identified.
Aftermath[]
After his death, Anderson was awarded the Purple Heart and memorialized at the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii. Additionally, he has a memorial marker at Evergreen Cemetery in Priest River. According to the Spokane Chronicle, Anderson was the first fatality from his hometown.
Two months after accident, the partial remains of a sailor washed up on Amchitka Island. Although the remains were presumed to be one of the still-missing eleven, the remains were never identified and were subsequently buried in Plot Section K #30 in Sitka National Cemetery in Sitka, Alaska.
John Alfred Anderson remains among the over 72,000 Americans who remain unaccounted for in World War II. The DPAA has listed his case as being under Active Pursuit.
