LARAMIE, Wyo. — WWII Veteran, Machinist Mate First Class George Hanson, who was killed in action during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, returned to his community for the for the first time since his 1941 death, during the summer of 2019.
A motorcade escorting Hanson’s remains back to Laramie from Colorado, reached its destination June 26, 2019, just after 11:00 pm.
Staff Sergeant Jeremy Eller-McNeely with the Wyoming Air Guard says that Hanson had been living in Laramie at the time he enlisted in the US Navy.
“He was a sailor on the USS Oklahoma, during the Pearl Harbor attacks,” Eller-McNeely said. “He was one of 429 crew members that perished, when the ship capsized when it was hit by torpedoes.”
Eller-McNeely was among multiple servicemen who escorted Hanson’s remains from Denver International Airport, north on I-25 through Cheyenne, and then across the summit on I-80 before arriving in Laramie. The remains were joined by a motorcade of law enforcement vehicles, dozens of motorcycles, as well as civilian passenger vehicles.
Dozens more gathered outside the funeral home to await the motorcade’s arrival, including the Laramie Ranger’s baseball team, who held two rows of US flags for the motorcade to pass through.
“It means bringing a hero to his final resting place, bringing him home,” Eller-McNeely told reporters, following the ceremony. The Staff Sergeant went on to say that this was his first time participating in an escort of this kind. “It’s truly humbling, I don’t have words to describe it.”
Hanson’s remains were positively identified in December of 2018.
A graveside service for Machinist Mate First Class George Hanson was held at Laramie’s Green Hill Cemetery, at 11:00 am, Saturday June 29, 2019. An escorted motorcade transferred Hanson’s casket from the Montgomery Stryker Funeral Home, just before 11:00 am.
The public was invited to attend the graveside service.
A version of this story was originally published on June 26, 2019, by our sister publication Oil City News. It has been republished here for purposes of public interest. The Cap City version of this post was published on December 6, 2019; however the timestamp of the story has been changed to reflect the approximate date of original publication.
