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.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 294279
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
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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.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Else Hanson
Location Of Loss
Private Hanson was killed at an unspecified location on Tulagi.
