World War II veteran receives long-awaited medal
Lemay man fought in Rhineland, Ardennes
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| Shawn Clubb photo/ Norman Hansen holds a case containing his Bronze Star Medal and a medal and letter of appreciation from the Czech Republic for his service in World War II. |
Twenty-eight years after retirement and 63 years after he was discharged, he received a token of recognition for his service in the war - a Bronze Star.
The medal arrived five months ago and it means a lot to the 88-year-old Lemay man. Some veterans die before their medal arrives."A lot of these fellows never see this. Their wife or someone will get it," he said. "I just waited patiently and prayerfully that someday I would get it."
The Bronze Star that Hansen received was awarded for meritorious service. He received it by virtue of receiving the Combat Infantryman Badge during World War II.
"The Combat Infantryman Badge was not earned by everyone in World War II, only those who served in infantry units and trained as infantrymen," said Lt. Col. Mike Moose, a spokesman for the Army Human Resources Command. "Granted, there were many, many servicemen who served proudly, who were trained as infantrymen and medics, and who served with combat infantry units. How many are still surviving? We do not know."
President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized creation of the Bronze Star Medal by executive order in 1944, after Gen. George C. Marshall sent him a memorandum arguing for creation of an award to honor ground troops. Marshall said infantrymen "lead miserable lives of extreme discomfort."
Hansen, who served as a corporal in the 94th Division of the 376th Infantry, said he wasn't on the front line, but he still had to endure through campaigns in Northern France, the Rhineland, Central Europe and the Ardennes. He said there are many things he doesn't remember about his service after 63 years, but he remembers standing for a full field inspection by Gen. George S. Patton.
He also remembers marching, digging foxholes and enduring intense cold.
"It was an experience that I shall never forget and I'm sorry I was in," he said.
He marched through Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and Czechoslovakia. Walking, he said, is what infantry troops do.
"Every day we'd get orders to move up or move back. We did so much walking," he said. "I don't know how many foxholes I dug. I was small. I didn't have to dig them as deep."
Hansen also did a lot of praying. He recalled standing guard duty at night in areas where German soldiers were still present. He'd hear a noise and call out "Halt! Who goes there?" Sometimes he'd wait tensely when no answer came back.
He also saw many fellow soldiers leave for the hospital with frostbite.
Hansen's honorable discharge papers list among his decorations and citations four Bronze Star Medals for his participation in four World War II campaigns. He said he never received an actual medal for those, but he did get ribbons to denote those Bronze Stars.
More recently, Hansen was reading a publication where he learned that World War II recipients of the Combat Infantryman Badge could receive a Bronze Star. This change to the award was made by executive order in 1947. Hansen sent in forms to the National Personnel Records Center on Page Avenue to inform them of his eligibility for that medal. He now displays it proudly in a case with a medal for his military service in Czechoslovakia, which he received from the people of the Czech Republic, and a letter from a Czech official.
Hansen said the Bronze Star Medal means someone valued not only his service, but the service of all soldiers like him - even some friends who never came back.
