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The Goats of Kingsport
April 10, 2025
By Jon Peters
A number of years ago Tom Brokaw, NBC News anchor, wrote a book "The Greatest Generation". It contained stories about some who served in WWII, did heroic tasks, then came back home after the war and settled down in everyday lives, and very few others were aware of what they did in the war. John Anderson, Kingsport, TN was not mentioned in that book, but he was certainly one of those men.
Although we both worked at Eastman, I knew John mostly at Ridgefields Country Club where we both played golf, but in different groups. John was a good bit older than me, but he played lots of golf.
One day we both happened to be on the practice green putting while waiting on our partners to arrive. I struck up a conversation with him by asking if he happened to be in WWII and he said, yes. I asked him what he did and where he served. He said in the Army Air Corps and flew out of England. I asked what he flew. He said a P-61 Black Widow. I said, WOW, did you ever shoot down anything? He responded, yeah, two German fighters, and a V-1.
The V-1 was the first missile developed by the Germans. It had an engine on the back and top that was sort of a jet engine. It made a buzz and therefore was called the buzz bomb. Germany was shooting those V-1's at England and wherever they ran out of fuel, they fell and exploded. V-1's caused a good bit of damage in England.
At this point I had to stop practicing putting and just talk with John. I said John that's amazing! How in the world could you shoot one of those down? He said well they weren't all that fast and if radar in England could locate one and radio to us about where it was flying, we could get behind it and shoot it down.
Needless to say, John was awarded a number of medals for his service to our country. After the war, he came back home, got a job with Kodak in Rochester, NY, then transferred to Eastman Chemical, Kingsport in the engineering division, raised a family, and settled into American life. Just as others were described in Brokaw's book, "The Greatest Generation".
John's daughter together with him wrote a book "Into The Night" about his service to our country. The plane John flew, P-61 Black Widow, was a twin engine propeller driven aircraft that flew mostly at night. The book is available at the Kingsport Library.
We all owe a lot to men like John Anderson.
John Anderson, WWII Hero
By Guest Contributor - Administrator
April 10, 2025
By Jon Peters
A number of years ago Tom Brokaw, NBC News anchor, wrote a book "The Greatest Generation". It contained stories about some who served in WWII, did heroic tasks, then came back home after the war and settled down in everyday lives, and very few others were aware of what they did in the war. John Anderson, Kingsport, TN was not mentioned in that book, but he was certainly one of those men.
Although we both worked at Eastman, I knew John mostly at Ridgefields Country Club where we both played golf, but in different groups. John was a good bit older than me, but he played lots of golf.
One day we both happened to be on the practice green putting while waiting on our partners to arrive. I struck up a conversation with him by asking if he happened to be in WWII and he said, yes. I asked him what he did and where he served. He said in the Army Air Corps and flew out of England. I asked what he flew. He said a P-61 Black Widow. I said, WOW, did you ever shoot down anything? He responded, yeah, two German fighters, and a V-1.
The V-1 was the first missile developed by the Germans. It had an engine on the back and top that was sort of a jet engine. It made a buzz and therefore was called the buzz bomb. Germany was shooting those V-1's at England and wherever they ran out of fuel, they fell and exploded. V-1's caused a good bit of damage in England.
At this point I had to stop practicing putting and just talk with John. I said John that's amazing! How in the world could you shoot one of those down? He said well they weren't all that fast and if radar in England could locate one and radio to us about where it was flying, we could get behind it and shoot it down.
Needless to say, John was awarded a number of medals for his service to our country. After the war, he came back home, got a job with Kodak in Rochester, NY, then transferred to Eastman Chemical, Kingsport in the engineering division, raised a family, and settled into American life. Just as others were described in Brokaw's book, "The Greatest Generation".
John's daughter together with him wrote a book "Into The Night" about his service to our country. The plane John flew, P-61 Black Widow, was a twin engine propeller driven aircraft that flew mostly at night. The book is available at the Kingsport Library.
We all owe a lot to men like John Anderson.