SMITHFIELD — Stuart Heath Anderson survived two wars, though his father is certain the last one ultimately cost him his life.
Ironically, his son wasn’t born to be a soldier, Simms Anderson told those gathered for Johnston County’s Memorial Day ceremony on May 26. “Stuart was born in 1982 with a compromised heart that at age 4 months had to be remedied by life-saving surgery,” he said.
Even then, doctors said Stuart would be a fragile child. “The doctors told us … that he would have to overcome it by … strengthening the heart, which he did,” Anderson said, recalling that his son lifted weights, ran and ate well…