Marion has had its share of heroes over the years. The subject of this work is World War II and how one of our local citizens answered the call.
We had a family here in Marion that sent four of its sons to the service and only one survived. In Williamson County we had two sons from Paulton that died in prisoner of war camps. We have other families that sent four and five of their sons to the effort. The first casualty of the war from Marion was a man who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan and he is still entombed in the Battleship Arizona.
In the spring of 1941, Marion Township High School graduated its class of 1941 and James W. Sanders was a member of the class of 1941. Jim had been very active in high school and had been awarded the Diamond Rotary Key Award. He had also been quite a track team member and held the Williamson County quarter mile record which stood for 25 years.
“Jimmie” as he was known by high school classmates, attended the University of Illinois and was a student there until he entered the U.S. Army as an enlisted man. He reported to Camp Butner, North Carolina and before long joined the famed 78th Infantry Division which had won glory for itself during World War I in France.
Jim trained with his division at Camp Butner and Camp Pickett in Tennessee and finally the division moved to New Jersey in November of 1944. Jim obviously was a top notch G.I. as by this time he had been promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant. As staff sergeant he certainly had a large range of responsibilities in the handling and control of a platoon in Company B of the 310th Infantry, 78th Infantry Division.
The 78th Division, “The Lightning Men” landed in England and by November 22, 1944, the division had been shipped to France in preparation for engaging in the conflict of defeating Germany. On December 13, 1944 the 78th Division found themselves entrenched in positions along a three mile stretch of the Allied front near the village of Lammersdorf, Germany. They were facing the much vaunted “Siegfried Line” which was to defend Germany against any and all attackers. The 78th eventually was one of the divisions that crossed the Rhine River on the famed Remagen Bridge.
The division went into action on December 13 and on December 14, S/Sgt. Jim Sanders, while leading his men in this battle stepped on a “Schu-Mine” which had been overlooked by mine sweeping soldiers in their advance against the German lines. The “Schu-Mine” was an ingenious device created by the Germans as an anti-personnel device. It was constructed mostly of wood, thereby making it almost undetectable by the metal defectors of that day.
Fortunately Jim survived the blast and was assisted by his fellow soldiers to an aid station and then transferred back eventually to Paris. Jim got his first airplane ride from the Paris hospital to a hospital in England. Jim’s wounds were horrible, breaking both of his legs and eventually causing the loss of both heels necessitating specially constructed shoes for the rest of his days.
Jim’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. L.A. Sanders were notified early in January that he had been wounded and that his wounds were slight. Subsequently they were notified of the severity of his wounds.
By February 28, 1945, Jim landed in New York and a prolonged period of different hospitals and different surgeries. By May of 1946, well after the war was over, Jim had his 19th surgery and was in a hospital in Galesburg, Illinois. Along the way Jim had had the pleasure of meeting Helen Keller.
He had also met a lady by the name of Myrla Leach, who would become his lifelong partner. They had actually met in 1944 while Jim was on leave from the Army and they corresponded a great deal. Myrla visited Jim during his many different hospital stays and on May 4, 1947, they were married.
Like many of the “Greatest Generation” Jim resumed his life as soon as he could after being discharged from the Army by completing his college education from the University of Illinois in 1948. He continued his education receiving post graduate degrees from the John Marshall School of Law in Chicago and McKendree College.
He entered the practice of law with his uncle. Ralph Harris in Marion in 1952 and in a short time hung out his own “shingle” as James Sanders and Associates. Eventually he had the proud accomplishment of taking into his law practice his two sons, J. Lawrence Sanders and John W. Sanders.
Jim engaged in Republican politics and surely was quite proud of his family which consisted of the two previously mentioned sons and three daughters, Jane, Gail and Ann Sanders and several grandchildren. Jim was active in Rotary activities and there is now a scholarship awarded by the Rotary Club named after him. Jim also served on the Marion School board for 26 years and also on the Illinois Association of School Boards and became its president.
Sanders was quoted as saying,
“The practice of law in the early 50’s and 60’s certainly was different from today. After World War II we “young” lawyers, J.C. Mitchell, George Morgan, William Novick, Jim Bleyer, and myself, to name a few, had to butt heads every day with “old” lawyers such as Ralph W. Harris, Gordon Franklin, Arthur Melvin, and A.L. Fowler, as well as the other lawyers who were just a little ahead of us, Norb Garrison, Charles Winters and Kenneth Powless.
In those years, we didn’t worry much about Interrogation or Depositions. Those of us who represented the plaintiffs filed lawsuits, the defense lawyers would answer, and we would go to trial.
I would like to emphasize that the lawyers in Williamson County have always tried lawsuits all over Southern Illinois with great success. Probably no other group of attorneys in the country have tried more lawsuits during the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and 60’s than Rufus Neely, Delos Duty, Arthur Melvin, Gordon Franklin, R.W. Harris and A.L. Fowler, and we trusted each other, any lawyer’s word was his bond.”
Marion lost its good citizen on July 26, 1990, when he passed away leaving many to mourn his passing. He died at his home on North Hamlet in Marion, which was merely 35 feet north of the place of his birth in 1923. Doesn’t it seem ironic that man who had traveled so far in his life and affected so many left this life so close to where he had entered it.
Sam’s Notes: James W. Sanders served as President of the Marion Rotary Club in 1957-58, as has both of his sons. James W. Sanders and Associates law office was located at 208 N. Market Street. His residence was 212 N. Hamlet Street.
(Article titled Remembering Jim Sanders written by Harry Boyd and published in Marion Living Magazine, April 2007)