What started as a normal visit to a coffee shop Thursday morning turned into the honor of a lifetime as a 91-year-old Marine Corps veteran was awarded a Purple Heart — 72 years after being wounded.
Samuel “Lee” Anderson was a 19-year-old corporal when he fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima. After 21 days of intense fighting, a landmine blast set off by a nearby soldier knocked him unconscious.
While he can’t recall how long he was out, Anderson said he remembers being happy to finally take a shower when he got to the hospital.
“All of a sudden, I was on a stretcher,” he said. “I ended up in Guam at an Army hospital — hadn’t had my shoes or anything off in 21 days, so I smelled.”
Eventually, he settled down, started a family and worked as a plumber.
Todd Anderson, a retired Glendale police lieutenant, said his father’s time in Iwo Jima never came up during family dinners. Hard work and plumbing were regular topics of discussion but never Iwo Jima, he said.
One day, he and his brothers decided to take a look at their father’s service record.
“What we found out clearly on his [discharge form], right out the gate, was that he was wounded,” Todd Anderson said. “Down below it, in remarks, it said ‘no record of award of Purple Heart.’”
That was two years ago.
He eventually got in touch with Marine Lt. Col. Aaron Doty and set the ball rolling to honor his father, who lives in Woodland Hills.
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Retired United States Marine Corps Corporal Samuel Leland Anderson, Jr., 91 of Woodland Hills, wipes tears after receiving the Purple Heart during ceremony at Henri’s Coffee Shop in Canoga Park on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017. Anderson Jr., who was wounded on March 11, 1945, after 21 days of intense fighting at Iwo Jima, Japan, during World War II, is the father of retired Glendale police Lt. Todd Anderson. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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With his sons, retired Glendale police Lt. Todd Anderson, 53, left, and Adam Anderson, 49, second from left, retired United States Marine Corps Corporal Samuel Leland Anderson, Jr., 91 of Woodland Hills, listens to USMC Sgt. Allen Schocken, right, read a commendation, before receiving a Purple Heart from USMC Lt. Colonel Aaron Doty, second from right, during ceremony at Henri’s Coffee Shop in Canoga Park on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017. Anderson Jr. was wounded on March 11, 1945, after 21 days of intense fighting at Iwo Jima, Japan, during World War II. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Retired United States Marine Corps Corporal Samuel Leland Anderson, Jr., 91 of Woodland Hills, received the Purple Heart during ceremony at Henri’s Coffee Shop in Canoga Park on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017. Anderson Jr., who was wounded on March 11, 1945, after 21 days of intense fighting at Iwo Jima, Japan, during World War II, is the father of retired Glendale police Lt. Todd Anderson. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Retired United States Marine Corps Corporal Samuel Leland Anderson, Jr., 91 of Woodland Hills, received the Purple Heart during ceremony at Henri’s Coffee Shop in Canoga Park on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017. Anderson Jr., who was wounded on March 11, 1945, after 21 days of intense fighting at Iwo Jima, Japan, during World War II, is the father of retired Glendale police Lt. Todd Anderson. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Retired United States Marine Corps Corporal Samuel Leland Anderson, Jr., 91 of Woodland Hills, talks to the press after receiving the Purple Heart during ceremony at Henri’s Coffee Shop in Canoga Park on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017. Anderson Jr., who was wounded on March 11, 1945, after 21 days of intense fighting at Iwo Jima, Japan, during World War II, is the father of retired Glendale police Lt. Todd Anderson. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Retired United States Marine Corps Corporal Samuel Leland Anderson, Jr., 91 of Woodland Hills, received the Purple Heart during ceremony at Henri’s Coffee Shop in Canoga Park on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017. Anderson Jr., who was wounded on March 11, 1945, after 21 days of intense fighting at Iwo Jima, Japan, during World War II, is the father of retired Glendale police Lt. Todd Anderson. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Retired United States Marine Corps Corporal Samuel Leland Anderson, Jr., 91 of Woodland Hills, received the Purple Heart during ceremony at Henri’s Coffee Shop in Canoga Park on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017. Anderson Jr., who was wounded on March 11, 1945, after 21 days of intense fighting at Iwo Jima, Japan, during World War II, is the father of retired Glendale police Lt. Todd Anderson. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Retired United States Marine Corps Corporal Samuel Leland Anderson, Jr., 91 of Woodland Hills, received the Purple Heart during ceremony at Henri’s Coffee Shop in Canoga Park on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017. Anderson Jr., who was wounded on March 11, 1945, after 21 days of intense fighting at Iwo Jima, Japan, during World War II, is the father of retired Glendale police Lt. Todd Anderson, left. Anderson Jr.’s grandson and Todd Anderson’s son Nick Anderson, 29, is at right. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
Weeks later, on Feb. 9, Lee Anderson walked into Henri’s restaurant in Canoga Park to have breakfast with his friends — something he does as part of his daily routine. What wasn’t part of the routine was the procession of family and friends who streamed into the dining room at the end of his meal.
They were all there to see him finally receive a Purple Heart.
The group included his sons and his wife as well as several Marines in their dress blues and officers from the Glendale Police Department.
The officers were there to show their support for both Andersons. Their ties to the local police agency continue as Todd Anderson’s son is an officer with the department, and his daughter works as an emergency dispatcher.
Doty was on hand for the medal pinning and said it was something that should’ve been done a long time ago.
“It’s my great honor to finally put this together and hang this medal on this man’s chest who earned it back in 1945,” he said. “As a brother, as another Marine, this is an absolute honor and this is what Marines do — love our own ferociously to the death. We take care of each other.”
Lee Anderson said he was grateful for everyone who showed up for the ceremony and that it was overwhelming. He was also surprised because he expected the medal would arrive in the mail.
“I never thought they’d ever have a big ceremony like this,” he said. “It’s a great thing that my boys did for me, and I love them for it. “
Andy Nguyen was the public safety reporter for the Burbank Leader and Glendale News-Press. He previously worked for the Thousand Oaks Acorn and the Orange County Register. A native of Orange County, he attended UC Berkeley, where he wrote for the Daily Californian and graduated with a degree in media studies.
