WWII · Battle Death Record
Robert Hanson
First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps · Minnesota
Medal of Honor
Personnel File — Core Information
- Name
- Robert Hanson
- Entered the Service From
- Minnesota
- Rank
- First Lieutenant
- Service
- U.S. Marine Corps
- Unit / Regiment
- Marine Fighting Squadron 215 (VMF-215)
- War
- WWII
- Date of Death
- February 3, 1944
- Awards
- Medal of Honor, Navy Cross, Air Medal, Purple Heart
- Burial / Memorial
- Commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
- Grave
- Tablets of the Missing
Their story
1st Lt. Robert M. Hanson was a USMC fighter ace credited with 25 enemy aircraft destroyed, earning the Medal of Honor for a bold solo attack against six Japanese torpedo bombers over Bougainville on November 1, 1943, and for downing four Zeros alone over New Britain on January 24, 1944. On February 3, 1944, during a strafing run near Cape St. George, New Ireland, his F4U Corsair crashed into the sea and he was killed; his remains were never recovered.
Compiled from American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and National Archives (NARA) records and public sources.
This record is one of more than 200,000 in our historical archive. Some information may have been corrupted or lost over decades of data conversion. Corrections are welcome — please contact the archive.