World War II casualty: Arthur Clayton Vandivort

The men and women who served and lived during World War II are passing away each day. What they left behind are photographs, letters, diaries and oral histories of a nation's sacrifice. Factories were retrofitted for war production, and citizens endured food and gas rations, while enthusiastically supporting war bond drives. The Vandivort family of Cape Girardeau had two sons who enlisted, Arthur Clayton and William Soresby. One made the ultimate sacrifice in defending our nation.

Arthur Clayton Vandivort, the oldest son of Leon and Naomi Vandivort of Cape Girardeau, was born on July 21, 1918. Arthur was involved in Troop 4 of the Boy Scouts of America while he was growing up in Cape Girardeau. He graduated from the Southeast Missouri State Teacher's College High School in May 1936. When Arthur was around 21 years old, he worked at the Prather Standard Hatchery in Cape Girardeau. On Oct. 16, 1940, Vandivort joined the United States Army to fight in World War II. He served in Company D, 503rd Parachute Company. He spent time at Jefferson Barracks and Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Camp Robinson, Arkansas, and Fort Benning, Georgia, training before heading overseas to Southeast Asia. While stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Vandivort was a corporal of the Anti-Tank Company, First Infantry in 1941. By August 1942 he was in Company A, 504th Parachute Company when he was stationed in Fort Benning.

During his time in service, he wrote extensively to his mother. Due to letters being censored, his letters home weren't able to provide details of what he was doing. So most of his letters detail his daily activities around camp, packages and letters received from others. He also asked about family and friends back home. His last letter home on April 17, 1944, discusses sending negatives and for his mother not to worry about him. Three months later, on July 23, Arthur was killed in action in Noemfoor, New Guinea, killed by a Japanese sniper while leading his platoon. He was awarded a Silver Star for his gallantry. News of his death reached his parents by August as they received several condolence letters. In 1945, Lt. William Miller wrote to his mother the circumstances surrounding his death. Miller wrote of Vandivort, "He was a calm, collected, inspiring young man, and never asked his men to do anything he wouldn't do himself."

Vandivort was originally buried in the Allied cemetery in New Guinea. However, once the war was over, his body was disinterred and brought back to the United States in June 1948. His family buried him in New Lorimier Cemetery in Cape Girardeau.

It is the hope that future soldiers of the conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, and War on Terror will donate their papers to archives so future generations will learn of the sacrifices that they made for home and country.