JACK GLENNON HANSON (1930 ~ 1951). Medal of Honor recipient Jack G. Hanson was born in Escaptawpa, Mississippi, on August 18, 1930. He joined the U.S. Army at Galveston, Texas. Hanson was assigned to First Platoon, Company F, 31st Infantry Unit as a Private First Class and was deployed to Korea.
On the night of June 7, 1951, his company was attacked while in defensive positions on two hills near Pachi-dong. Hanson maintained a machine gun position when his unit was ordered to retreat. Hanson volunteered to stay behind with his crew to cover his unit's retreat. When the company reached the new position, command found out that Hanson's assistant gunner and the three riflemen who had stayed with him had been wounded and crawled to safety. Meaning Hanson defended his position alone. The unit reorganized and counterattacked, and eventually regained its original position on the hills in a few hours. Hanson's body was found in front of his machine gun position. All of his ammunition had been fired, he held an empty pistol in right hand and a bloody machete in his left. Hanson's body was surrounded by 22 dead enemy soldiers.
For Hanson's courageous defense of his retreating unit and self sacrifice, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. His Medal of Honor was presented to his father by Secretary of Defense Robert A. Lovett in his office at the Pentagon on January 16, 1952. Hanson is buried at Robinson Cemetery in Escatawpa, Mississippi.
Bibliography: "Above and Beyond: the Medal of Honor in Texas," Capitol Visitors Center, State Preservation Board of Texas. Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, University of Texas, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/HH/fhapv.html, April 26, 2006. "Jack Hanson," Find A Grave.com, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin?page=gr&GRid=7416350, June 14, 2006. "Jack Hanson," Medal of Honor.com, http://www.medalofhonor.com/JackHanson.htm, June 14, 2006.
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