DALE M HANSEN
PRIVATE, USMCR
Marine Private Dale Merlin Hansen was awarded the Nation's highest decoration for his gallantry in action at Okinawa on 7 May 1945. He was killed by a Japanese sniper just four days later - on the first anniversary of his entrance into the Marine Corps.
Born 13 December 1922, at Wisner, Nebraska, Private Hansen was the son of Peter and Lillian Hansen. While attending the schools of Cuming County, he helped out on the family farm, and after graduating from high school at Wisner in 1940, he worked full-time on the farm. For relaxation he played sandlot baseball and softball or went horseback riding.
The five-foot-nine, 141-pound Nebraska farmer was inducted into the Marine Corps on 11 May 1944. He completed "boot camp" at San Diego, California, and after that, was assigned to the Infantry Training Battalion at Camp Pendleton, California, where he underwent four weeks of infantry indoctrination and two weeks of training with the Browning Automatic Rifle. With that weapon he turned in a score of 175 to become an Expert Automatic Rifleman.
Private Hansen sailed for the Pacific theater on 12 November 1944, with a replacement draft, and the following month, joined Company E of the 2d Battalion, 1st Marines, at Pavuvu in the Russell Islands. There, he underwent "bazooka" training before sailing with the 1st Marine Division for maneuvers at Banika Island and Guadalcanal in February 1945. Late that March, after a few more days back at Pavuvu, the division left for Okinawa where Hansen where landed with it on Easter Sunday, 1 April. The action which brought him the Medal of Honor occurred in the battle for Hill 60 on the southern part of the island and he was killed on May 11th in the Wana-Dakeshi Ridge fighting.
The Medal of Honor was presented to Private Hansen's parents on 30 May 1946, by the officer in charge of the Midwestern Recruiting Division as part of Wisner's Memorial Day observance.
Private Hansen was initially buried in the 1st Marine Division Cemetery on Okinawa, but his remains were returned to the United States in 1948 for burial in Wisner, Nebraska.