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Friday, March 29, 2024 - 02:18 AM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

First Published in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr. Grew up in Greenville, Commissioned in USAF From Clemson AFROTC, Only Casualty of Cuban Missile Crisis

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When the founding officers of American Legion Post 214 in Taylors were deciding on a military hero to honor with the name of the new post, Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr. was the perfect choice. The post was dedicated to the memory of Major Anderson at the site of the memorial erected in his memory on October 27, 2015, the 53rd anniversary of his death at the controls of a U-2 reconnaissance plane several miles in the sky over Cuba.

Major Anderson was both the hero and the only American casualty of the Cuban Missile Crisis. His sacrifice produced photographs of Soviet missiles that were eventually withdrawn from the island by the Soviet Union. Major Anderson’s ultimate sacrifice may have saved millions of lives by producing intelligence that helped avert a nuclear war.

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Rudolf Anderson is no stranger to Legionnaires in Greenville. For about 50 years he was honored annually by the American Legion led by his old Boy Scout Master Roy Gullick, an active member of the American Legion.

Gullick was unable to attend the dedication ceremony due to his declining health and inclement weather.

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The brief ceremony was held in a park shelter with about fifty people in attendance as a cold rain surrounded the open shelter.

Television Personality Jane Robelot, a cousin of Major Anderson, represented the Anderson family who gave permission to Legion Post 214  to use his name.

Post Commander Steve Zeitz conducted the dedication ceremony. Americanism Chairman Peter Butchart described the process of selecting and obtaining use of the name of Major Anderson. Butchart presented a framed Post 214 plaque surrounded by wings and medals awarded to Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr. to Robelot for the Anderson family.

Bob Scherer, first vice commander of the American Legion Department of South Carolina, attended the ceremony.

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