Private First Class Sanders was a member of Company C, 461st Infantry Battalion, Heavy Mortars, U.S. Army. On 14 June 1953, he was taken Prisoner of War while fighting in North Korea and was released on 26 August 1953. He died aboard a military transport en route to the Unites States on 6 September 1953.

Sanders was awarded the Prisoner of War Medal, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.