Corporal Sanderson was a member of Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was seriously wounded in South Korea on 12 August 1950 and returned to duty on 6 September 1950. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 1 December 1950. He was presumed dead on 5 January 1954. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Sanderson was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Prisoner of War Medal, 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.