Corp. Ben Burnett SANFORD c1918-1942.Oran,Algeria

SANFORD WEST MATHEWS TEMPLE

Posted By: Andrew Brown (email)
Date: 7/3/2011 at 19:21:00

CORP. SANFORD DIES IN ACTION

Mr. & Mrs. Wilford (Nellie) Sanford 29 ½ 5th St. N. W. (Oelwein, Iowa) were informed this morning that their son, Corp. Ben Burnett Sanford, was killed in action in defense of his country in the Western European(Oran,Algeria) area on November 8 (1942). Corp. Sanford enlisted in the Army(Calvary) three years ago in October (1939) and was trained at Forts Robinson, Riley and Knox.
He had been out of the states less than three months, and in the last letter received by his parents, dated Oct. 10 and received here on Nov. 14 stated that he had just landed in Ireland.
He is survived by his mother and father in Oelwein (Iowa), his wife (Dora West) and daughter living in Ft. Riley, Kansas, three brothers, Gordon of Oelwein, Ralph of California and his twin brother, PVT Robert Sanford with the Army Signal Corps. At Ft.. Leavenworth, Kansas, and one sister, Mrs. Harry (Faye) Mathews of Chicago. His grandmother, Mrs. Mary Temple of Oelwein also survives.

..04DEC1942 Oelwein IA Daily Register

Notes:Served with U.S. Army, 6th Infantry Battalion/Regiment, 1st Armored Div. which on 08NOV1942 engaged French Vichy Forces near Oran, Algeria on the first day of Operation Torch in North Africa.
Buried at: North Africa American Cemetery, Carthage, Tunisia
Plot: I Row: 9 Grave: 4
Awards: Purple Heart