Rome, NY WWII Fallen

PFC JOHN J. LANDERS

U.S. ARMY 12174434

Company M, 354th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion, 89th Infantry Division

John James Landers was born December 27, 1925, in Rome, Oneida County, New York, to Glen Carl (1899-1933) and Josephine J. Lenahan (1899-1991) Landers. Glen was born in Ridge Mills, New York, and Josephine was born in Brooklyn, New York. Glen and Josephine were married February 29, 1924, in Rome, Oneida County, New York. Glen served as a fireman for Independent Hose Company No. 1 in Rome, New York, for 13 years. He passed away on June 10, 1933, at Broadacres Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Deerfield, New York, where he underwent treatment for a month prior to his death. John had one sibling, Elizabeth L. Johnson (1924-2013).

John attended Saint Aloysius Academy and Utica Free Academy. He was a member of St. Patrick’s Church, Utica, New York, and of its Holy Name Society. John registered for the draft on December 27, 1943, (his 18th birthday) in Rome, New York. He was 5’ 10 ½” tall, weighed 160 pounds, and had blue eyes and brown hair. John lived with his mother at 102 South Levitt Street in Rome, and worked as a substitute letter carrier for the Rome Post Office. John enlisted in the U.S. Army on January 28, 1944, at Ft. Dix, New Jersey.

On January 6, 1944, the Rome Post Office held a farewell party for John and two other employees leaving for military service. John left for Fort Dix, New Jersey, on January 30, 1944. He returned home for a 10-day furlough in June 1944, after completing training at Camp Wheeler, Georgia, and Camp Butner, North Carolina.

Morning Report of Nov. 18, 1944 from Camp Butner, N.C. showing him reporting back from furlough.

John deployed to the European Theater of Operations in January 1945 as a machine gunner with the 89th Infantry Division.

PFC John Landers was killed in action on April 17, 1945, in Zwickau, Saxony, Germany, at age 19.

In March 1945, the 89th Infantry Division joined Patton’s Third Army's assault on the Rhineland, crossing the Sauer, Moselle, and Rhine rivers that same month. On April 8, the 89th captured the town of Eisenach and subsequently the city of Zwickau on April 18, 1945. The 89th sustained a total of 325 deaths in battle in the European Theater of Operations.

The 89th Infantry Division is recognized as a Liberation Unit of World War II. On April 4, 1945, the 89th overran Ohrdruf, a subcamp of Buchenwald concentration camp. Ohrdruf was the first concentration camp liberated by U.S. troops in Germany. On April 12, 1945, Generals Eisenhower, Bradley, and Patton visited Ohrdruf to see the evidence of Nazi atrocities against prisoners of this concentration camp.

A memorial service and solemn requiem high mass for PFC Landers was held May 7, 1945, at St. Peter’s Church in Rome, New York. In memory of the ten members who sacrificed their lives in World Wars I and II, St. Peter’s Church dedicated a bronze plaque on May 30, 1947. PFC John J. Landers was among those honored.

PFC John Lander’s body was returned to Rome, New York, on December 3, 1948, one of 7572 Americans returned on the Army transport, Carroll Victory. A delegation of twenty-five veterans, organized by the Combined Veterans Committee for Return of War Dead, met his body at the New York Central Station, and accompanied his body to Rome, New York. A funeral was held December 6, 1948, with services at Martin J. Nunn Funeral Home and rites at St. Peter’s Church. Burial, with full military rites, was at Saint Peter’s Catholic Cemetery, Rome, New York. A firing squad at the grave was formed of members of Company C, 108th Infantry of the National Guard of New York. Members of Smith Post of the American Legion were in charge of the military honors and provided the color guard. Post Office employees and members of the Legion Auxiliary paid their respects, and many floral tributes were present.

PFC John J. Landers is remembered on Page 109 of the WWII Casualties of Oneida County, New York. He is listed on page 8200 of the U.S. Rosters of WWII Fallen and on the rosters of the 89th Infantry Division. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Medal of Honor of Rome, New York. He is remembered as a Gold Star Veteran from New York at HonorStates.org, and at Oneida County, New York, World War II Casualties at GenealogyTrails.com.

A memorial at Fort Carson, Colorado, (formerly Camp Carson) commemorates the 89th Infantry Division, 354th Infantry Regiment. The marker reads, “It is dedicated by their comrades in arms to the memory of the men who wore the Rolling W with honor and who died for their country on the battlefields of Europe.”

Mrs. Josephine Landers worked as a stenographer for the Census Bureau and for many years was an active member of the Auxiliary of Henry P. Smith Post of the American Legion of Rome, New York. Mrs. Landers and her daughter, Elizabeth Johnson, remembered PFC John Landers in memoriam in the Daily Sentinel, Rome, New York, for several years.

End notes: This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars Project, a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3 web sites. Can you help write these stories? These stories will be accessible via smartphone app at any war memorial or cemetery. If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact hillerson@beyondbb.com.