77 Years After Pearl Harbor, A Wyoming War Hero Is Coming Home
Navy Machinist Mate 1st Class George Hanson was one of 2,403 Americans killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Over 77 years later, his remains are finally coming home to Laramie.
Hanson was serving on the USS Oklahoma when it was torpedoed by Japanese kamikaze bombers on December 7, 1941. He was one of 429 sailors who went down with the ship. Last year, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified Hanson's remains through DNA testing.
"I don't think my mom and dad, or my grandmother or grandfather ever thought they would match it," Hanson's nephew Bob Gerard told the Coloradoan. "I think they went to their graves thinking that Hawaii would be his last resting place."
Gerard and his siblings are hoping to track down Hanson's purple heart along with old family photos for the ceremony when "Uncle Georgie" will finally be laid to rest.