Fay Anderson died Sunday. He was 88, a coin that stopped a bullet from entering his chest .

Pecatonica veteran remembered for making most of 2nd chance







Mementos and medals from WWII veteran Fay Anderson including a coin that stopped a bullet from entering his chest during battle are seen Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010, at the Countryman Funeral Home in Pecatonica.









PECATONICA — American soldiers were supposed to turn in all their U.S. currency while serving overseas during World War II.

Fay Anderson broke that rule, and it saved his life.

Anderson was serving in the Army in southern France in December 1944 when his unit took on gunfire from German soldiers.

He was struck twice. The first bullet hit him in the chest, ricocheting off the half-dollar coin he had unwittingly stashed in his breast pocket. The second bullet struck him near the temple, damaging his optic nerves and claiming his eyesight.

“He could have easily been killed,” said Scott Whitney, one of Anderson’s nephews. “Obviously his work on Earth wasn’t finished.”

Anderson, a lifelong Pecatonica resident, died Sunday. He was 88. Family members say he made the most of his second chance and lived a long, joy-filled life.

“I never heard him complain or feel sorry for himself,” Whitney said. “He had an influence on everyone he touched, and we will certainly miss him.”

After the war, Anderson carved out a successful career as a rug maker despite his vision impairment.

He met and married his wife, Doris, in 1953 without ever being able to see her.

“He was just a very outstanding guy who everyone admired here in Pecatonica,” said another nephew, Dale Eckburg. “I benefited greatly from being around him. He just took life in stride, and he was amazing to anyone who knew him.”

Anderson’s disability never slowed him down. He walked each day to get his mail from the downtown post office and routinely walked from his home to a nearby barber shop.

“He loved to walk around town, and he always knew where he was,” Whitney said. “As a kid, he delivered milk, and I think that’s the way he learned where all the streets were.”

Whitney said his daughter was also inspired by Anderson. She was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease, a juvenile macular degeneration that causes loss of sight.

“She used to visit with him, and he would encourage her,” Whitney said. “He was an inspiration to her, no doubt about that.”

Anderson was a member of First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pecatonica and was also involved with the Barloga American Legion Post 197, Donald L. Tarbert VFW 8416 and the Pecatonica Lions Club. He is survived by 29 nieces and nephews.

 

Pardon my french but, Holy Crap what luck. A coin? Seriously? Out of all the places the bullet could of went, it hit the coin. That is amazing, one lucky freaking guy. Thanks for posting. May he rest in peace, comfortably.

 

Amazing story. The coin story reminds me of crewman George Dixon on the Hunley who carried a bent golden coin that blocked a bullet during the battle of Shiloh.

 

a little off subject, but it reminds me of that country music video where a bible stops a bullet from entering a guys gut...

 

great stories are worth sharing, and he was one lucky fella for sure..