Shrapnel is still coming out of Alfred Hanson’s arm, neck and face.
Hanson, 80, was injured while serving in the Marine Corps during the Korean War.
The rifleman had been in Korea for only three months when he was wounded by an incoming shell that hit his trench. He was nearly buried alive, with just his feet showing.
“They pulled me out like a cork,” he said.
Doctors have offered to remove the shrapnel, but Hanson said he would just let it come out on its own, as it has been doing for years. He takes eight to 10 pain pills a day.
Hanson enlisted while still in Shawano High School in October 1951. (He received his high school diploma in 2001.)
“Korea broke out and one guy said let’s go join the Marine Corps,” Hanson said.
He went to Camp Pendleton in California to train, but instead of Korea, he was sent to Guam for two years. Then he volunteered for Korea, serving from May 1953 to May 1954.
“I got anxious to go to a new duty station,” Hanson said.
Along with the injuries to his right side, Hanson lost 12 teeth. He was supposed to go to the hospital in Japan, but instead he just had them bandage his injuries at a field hospital.
“I was stupid and went back up,” he said.
Hanson ate primarily only lima beans for a few months until he could get to a dentist.
Hanson had another close call when, as he bent down to reload, the two men on each side of him were shot in the head and killed.
“I’m lucky I bent down and put a clip on my rifle,” he said.
Hanson recalls other hardships seemed routine in the war. In the winter, for example, the temperature dropped to 40 degrees below zero.
“You worked your bolt on your rifle all night long so it wouldn’t freeze up,” Hanson said.
He used his bayonet to chip food from cans; the food had to sit in his mouth awhile until it got warm enough to chew.
“It’s so normal that you don’t think about it at the time,” Hanson said.
Hanson was discharged in October 1954 and finished his military career in the Reserves for 5½ years.
Among his many medals are the Purple Heart, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal and the Presidential Unit Citation.
Last year, he received the honor of being one of the service people to lay the wreath at the Shawano Veterans Day ceremony.
Next, Hanson is looking forward to going on the Old Glory Honor Flight to Washington on June 17.
“I didn’t think I did any more or any less than anyone else did,” Hanson said. “I’m no hero. I just did my job like everybody else did.”
However, his commanding officer might differ.
In a letter of appreciation, C.W. Hoffman wrote in part, “Your devotion to duty and conduct throughout served as an inspiration to all who observed you.”
Hanson is a Shawano native who was a Shawano Leader carrier as a youth.
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