Anson E. Voorhees Manuscript

Anson E. Voorhees was born on December 4, 1920, in Glen Ridge, New Jersey to J. Edgar and Clara L. Voorhees. He grew up in Pima, Arizona and started college in California. During his freshman year, however, his family moved back to New Jersey and the travel costs back and forth proved to be too much. At the end of Anson's sophomore year, he transferred to Montclair State Teacher's College before going on to the University of Pennsylvania to finish his undergraduate studies. It was at Montclair where he met his future wife, Doris. In his junior year, spring semester at the University of Pennsylvania Anson's draft number was pulled and he was interviewed, tested, and failed due to his poor eyesight. Thinking he was okay to go back and finish his studies he continued his junior year.

Army recruiters came to the university later that year looking for college boys they could make into "specialists."  In November 1942 Anson was recruited into the Enlisted Reserve Corps. In March 1943 Anson and 200 other men were sent to Fort Meade, Maryland where they were officially inducted into the army. He was then sent to Camp Wolters in Mineral Wells, Texas where he completed a thirteen-week infantry basic training.

During his basic training, he fell ill with pneumonia and was sent home for five weeks. It was at this time in 1943 that he and his wife Doris wed. When he returned to Camp Wolters he was transferred to a replacement depot in McLean, Texas where he found himself as an escort guard at a prisoner of war camp. About a month later he was sent out of Newport News, New Jersey with a detachment aimed for Oran, Algeria to retrieve Italian and German prisoners of war. His detachment constructed a make-shift prisoner of war camp where they kept the Afrika Korps soldiers. While in North Africa Anson had many experiences with Italian and German prisoners of war as well as local Arabs.

He and his guard company were then transferred to Campe Howze in Gainsville, Texas to guard about 4,000 German prisoners. While there he volunteered to be a company clerk for a company of 250 Germans. Voorhees was later transferred to a prisoner of war camp in Tonkawa, Oklahoma where he was in charge of keeping personal records. After D-Day, he was sent to England and France where he worked at a replacement depot outside of Paris. Later Voorhees was assigned to the Engineering Petroleum Distribution Headquarters and helped oversee the construction of pipelines and the tracking of gasoline. After a knee injury, he was sent back to Jersey City, New Jersey for surgery. He was then sent to Fort Dix and discharged.

Following his military career, Voorhees finished college and went to Kemper Insurance School in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated and moved back to Little Falls, New Jersey to work for the Edward E. Francisco, Inc. General Insurance company owned by Ed Francisco. Voorhees contracted tuberculosis and was forced to quit his job. After being bedridden for a year and nursed back to health by his wife, Doris, who had just had their first child he went back to his job with Francisco. Voorhees eventually became a partner and bought the company. Years later he sold the company and retired. Anson E. Voorhees died October 2, 2009.