Born at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, the son of Major General Jonathan Waverly Anderson and Dorothy Morgan. His mother was the daughter of Colonel George H. Morgan, a Medal of Honor awardee, thus it was only natural that he would aspire to a military career. After a year in Brown University, he applied for West Point, and entered with the class of 1943 (graduate no. 13430). Upon graduation, he volunteered for the Infantry and for parachute training, and quickly became a company commander in the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Severely wounded in a training accident on Fort Benning, Georgia, he met and fell in love with his nurse, Rosalind Lollar, marrying her after the war. His training accident ended his airborne career, and he was assigned as a “straight leg” infantryman to the 232nd Infantry Regiment of the 42nd Infantry Division, where he served in Europe. Affectionately known as "Tibby" by his men, he earned the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart for additional wounds, and was taken prisoner by the Germans during the last six months of the war. Returning from the war, he married his nurse, and they would have a daughter, Rosalind Anderson, while he continued with his career in the Army. Duty assignments included Alaska, Germany, Washington DC, the instructor staff of the Naval War College, and two tours in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. In 1966, he became a Brigade Commander in the 24th Infantry Division, in Germany, a tour that he personally considered his best assignment. While in Vietnam, he was awarded the Legion of Merit twice and a third Legion of Merit while serving in HQs, EUCOM in Germany. After 30 years of service, his many war wounds and injuries had finally taken their toll, and he retired with a medical disability. Settling into Winston-Salem, NC, he taught high school ROTC, and later moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he died. He and his wife, Rosalind, known by her nickname "Too," are buried in the same plot in Arlington National Cemetery.