In Memory of

U.S. Navy Quartermaster Third Class

James Donald Sanders

Deadwood, South Dakota

Lawrence County

July 24, 1921 – May 28, 1943

Killed in Action aboard the USS Runner

James “Jimmie” Donald Sanders was born July 24, 1921, at Mobridge, South Dakota, to James and Nell Sanders. He had a brother, Kenneth. At some point the family moved to Deadwood, South Dakota, where James resided from 1936 until he entered the service.

On May 20, 1941, James Sanders joined the Navy and was sent to the U.S. Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Illinois. After his training, he was assigned to the submarine, the USS Runner, and commenced foreign service in December of 1942.

James Donald Sanders, Quartermaster Third Class, U.S. Navy, was reported missing in action in a telegram to his parents on August 10, 1943. James’ parents, who by then were living in California, then sent a telegram back to South Dakota, which read: “JIMMIE MISSING IN ACTION PLEASE TELL FOLKS AND THE OTHERS.”

On December 31, 1943, a commanding officer in the Navy wrote to James’ parents: “It was with extreme sorrow that I received the bad news concerning the U.S.S. RUNNER. As her first Commanding Officer may I express my deepest sympathy to you over your great loss. James was one of the finest men it has ever been my pleasure to be with and his loss is a severe blow to the Navy. Men like he can never be replaced.”

In a letter from the Navy Department Bureau of Naval Personnel, the following was

written on March 28, 1947:

On 28 May 1943 the RUNNER under the command of Lieutenant Commander

J.H. Bourland, United States Navy, left Midway to proceed to Latitude 48 degrees –

30 minutes North, Longitude 154 degrees East and begin her third patrol. She was

to patrol south and west from this spot, until she came into the area south of

Hokkaido and east of the northern tip of Honshu, where she was to patrol from

about 8 June to 4 July 1943. The submarine was never heard from following her

departure from Midway.

She was expected at Midway about 11 July, and not later than 15 July, and should

have made a transmission when approximately 500 miles from this base. She was

ordered on 11 July to make an immediate transmission, but no reply came. A careful

lookout was maintained in the hope that the RUNNER was safe but without

transmission facilities, but the results were negative. On 20 July the RUNNER was

reported as presumed lost.

As a result, the 78 men aboard the USS Runner were carried as missing in action until January 2, 1946, when their status was changed to presumed dead. It is believed that the USS Runner was a casualty of an enemy mine field as Japanese records obtained after the war do not mention an attack. James Sanders is listed on the Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial in Hawaii. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.

This entry was respectfully submitted by Sheila Hansen, Fallen Sons State Coordinator, Spearfish, SD. Information for this entry was provided by Joyce L. Gilland Voss, Twin Oaks, OK, submitted via Herman Kraft, Timber Lake, SD.

James D Sanders (1921)