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Evan Julian Hansen

Private Evan J. “Julian” Hansen served with Dog Company, First Marine Raider Battalion (Edson’s Raiders).
He was killed in action at Tulagi, Solomon Islands, on 7 August 1942.

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Branch

Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 294279

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Current Status

Remains Not Recovered

Pursuit Category

The DPAA has not publicized this information.

Capsule History

Pre-War Life

Birth

November 9, 1921
at Coulter, IA

Parents

Carl Chistian Hansen
Else Katherine (Poulsen) Hansen

Education

Grammar school

Occupation & Employer

Farm worker

Service Life

Entered Service

August 27, 1940
at San Francisco, CA

Home Of Record

7 Fourth Street
Hampton, IA

Next Of Kin

Mother, Mrs. Else Hansen

Military Specialty

Raider

Primary Unit

D/1st Raider Battalion

Campaigns Served

Solomon Islands / Tulagi

Individual Decorations

Purple Heart

Additional Service Details

Loss And Burial

Circumstances Of Loss

Raider Private Evan J. “Julian” Hansen participated in the amphibious assault on Tulagi, Solomon Islands, on 7 August 1942. His company landed as part of the first wave, reorganized, and crossed Tulagi to take up positions on the left flank. They soon encountered heavy Japanese resistance around the Hill 281 / Goverment Wharf area, and began taking casualties.

Hansen, a former farm hand from Iowa, was shot in the chest and killed early in the battle, becoming one of the first Dog Company Raiders to lose his life in the Pacific war. No eyewitness accounts of his final moments are currently known.

Burial Information or Disposition

Hansen was reportedly buried in the “Police Barracks Parade Grounds” on Tulagi; also known as “Cemetery 2.” In 1944, all remains interred in this location were exhumed and reburied in “Cemetery 1, Tulagi” near White Beach. They would be moved again, near the war’s end, and interred on Guadalcanal. Finally, in 1947, the Guadalcanal cemetery was exhumed and all remains processed for identification.

At some point in this long string of postmortem moves, Evan Hansen’s identity was lost. It is impossible to say at which point – his original burial information may have been incorrect, or his records confused with those of another individual – but the outcome was the same. In 1949, his remains were declared permanently non-recoverable.

Today, Hansen may be one of the Tulagi unknowns buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific – or, he may still lie somewhere on Tulagi in a forgotten grave.

Next Of Kin Address

Address of mother, Mrs. Else Hanson

Location Of Loss

Private Hanson was killed at an unspecified location on Tulagi.

Related Profiles

Reported as buried on Tulagi, but not recovered.
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