James Anderson Jr. was born in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 22, 1947. Living in the Carson area, he attended Los Angeles Harbor College for a year and a half before joining the United States Marine Corps in February 1966. Assigned as a rifleman in Company F, 2nd Battalion Third Marine Division in Quang Tri Province in the Republic of Vietnam, he was mortally wounded during an intense firefight with enemy troops on Feb. 28, 1967, when he covered an enemy grenade with his body. That singular heroic act saved his comrades from serious injury and possible death. On Aug. 21, 1967, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously by Secretary of the Navy Paul R. Ignatius. He was the first black American in the history of the United States Marine Corps to receive the nation's highest decoration. His personal heroism, extraordinary valor, and supreme self-sacrifice reflected great credit upon himself and the United States of America, and he gave his life for his country. He was interred at Lincoln Memorial Park.