Jack G. Hanson

Remaining alone to cover a platoon’s withdrawal

Jack G. Hanson earned the Medal of Honor for defending his company’s position during the Korean War. Born in Escatawpa, Mississippi, on September 18, 1930, he served as a private first class and machine gunner in Company F, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.

On June 7, 1951, at Pachi-dong, enemy troops attacked the company’s defensive hills before dawn. Hanson volunteered to remain and provide covering fire as his platoon withdrew to higher ground. After his assistant gunner and nearby riflemen were wounded and reached safety, he continued the defense alone.

When the platoon counterattacked and regained its positions, Hanson was found dead with his ammunition exhausted. His posthumous Medal of Honor was presented to his father by Defense Secretary Robert A. Lovett at the Pentagon on January 16, 1952. Hanson was buried in Robinson Cemetery in Escatawpa. His award commemorates the stand that helped his company contain the attack and recover its ground.

Official Medal of Honor citation

Pfc. Hanson, a machine gunner with the 1st Platoon, Company F, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action against an armed enemy of the United Nations. The company, in defensive positions on two strategic hills separated by a wide saddle, was ruthlessly attacked at approximately 0300 hours, the brunt of which centered on the approach to the divide within range of Pfc. Hanson's machine gun. In the initial phase of the action, four riflemen were wounded and evacuated, and the numerically superior enemy, advancing under cover of darkness, infiltrated and posed an imminent threat to the security of the command post and weapons platoon. Upon orders to move to key terrain above and to the right of Pfc. Hanson's position, he voluntarily remained to provide protective fire for the withdrawal. Subsequent to the retiring elements' fighting a rearguard action to the new location, it was learned that Pfc. Hanson's assistant gunner and three riflemen had been wounded and had crawled to safety, and that he was maintaining a lone-man defense. After the 1st Platoon reorganized, counterattacked, and rescued its original positions at approximately 0530 hours, Pfc. Hanson's body was found lying in front of his emplacement, his machine-gun ammunition expended, his empty pistol in his right hand, and a machete with blood on the blade in his left hand, and approximately 22 enemy dead lay in the wake of his action. Pfc. Hanson's consummate valor, inspirational conduct, and willing self-sacrifice enabled the company to contain the enemy and regain the commanding ground, and reflect lasting glory on himself and the noble traditions of the military service.