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thedrifter
03-08-09, 06:43 AM
Memorial for soldier
Written by Jennifer Wadsworth
Saturday, 07 March 2009

Hundreds gather at West High today to remember Staff Sgt. Daniel Hansen, killed in Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Daniel Hansen was remembered today as a dependable soldier, high-spirited man and faithful friend.
The 24-year-old Marine and West High School graduate became the first soldier with ties to Tracy to die in Afghanistan when a roadside bomb killed him on Feb. 14. Seven servicemen from Tracy have died in Iraq.

This afternoon, more than 300 people gathered at the West High gymnasium — where just eight years earlier Hansen distinguished himself as a scholar and athlete — to celebrate his short life.

“Daniel affected a lot of people in the Marine Corps,” said Hansen’s identical twin brother Matthew Hansen, a Marine stationed in Virginia.

He always had some encouragement to offer and constantly challenged people to become better soldiers, better people, he continued.

“We all like to say good things about people when they’re gone,” said Matthew Hansen, pausing to fight back tears. “But I assure you that there’s nothing here today that I wouldn’t have said to his face.”

Born in Walnut Creek and raised in Tracy, Hansen graduated from West High in 2002 with his brother. The pair enlisted in the Marines a week apart straight out of high school.
Hansen rose through the ranks, was hand-picked to guard two generals, sent to Iraq to train security guards and eventually trained to defuse bombs.

Hansen worked with a unit to disarm bombs and was on patrol as an infantryman when he died. He was engaged to 22-year-old Emily Campbell, a student at Fresno State University.

Two weeks before he died, Hansen told Campbell that he had a photo of all his loved ones in one pocket and a prayer from her in the other, the bereaved fiancé told the audience at the memorial service today.

Family members, former teachers and military friends took turns at the podium to pay tribute with words and music in the gym today, as photos of Hansen faded in and out as part of a slideshow in the background.

His sister and fellow West High graduate, KatieAnne Hansen, 22, sang a song she said her brother used to like.

“My brother went to Afghanistan, and he’s never coming home,” she sang.

Hansen’s mother Sheryll Hansen, 52, traveled from Alaska to attend today’s service. His father, Delbert Hansen, 62, still lives in Tracy but plans to move up to Alaska soon when he retires, to join his wife. The couple was joined by dozens of relatives and close friends.

Various veterans’ organizations, some Marines, the Boy Scouts and local city and school officials turned out as well.

Though many who attended never met the soldier — posthumously promoted to staff sergeant — some said they showed up to remember the community’s sacrifice. With a total of eight servicemen who have died overseas since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Tracy continues to hold the unwanted distinction of having the highest per-capita death rate of soldiers who have died in active duty since Sept. 11, 2001.

The seven other servicemen from Tracy have been killed in the Iraq War are Army Staff Sgt. Steven Henry Bridges, 33; Army National Guardsman Sgt. Patrick McCaffrey, 34; Army Pfc. Jesse Martinez, 20; Marine Cpl. Brandon Dewey, 20; Army Sgt. 1st Class Tung Nguyen, 38; Army Pfc. Bruce Cameron Salazar, Jr., 24; and Army Sgt. Kyle Dayton, 22.

Hansen is buried at Fort Richardson National Cemetery in Fort Richardson, Alaska.



Staff Sgt. Daniel Louis Hansen’s personal decorations: Purple Heart; Navy Marine Corps Achievement Medal, gold star; Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, bronze star; National Defense Service Medal; Afghanistan Campaign Medal; Iraq Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Sea Service Deployment ribbon.

• Contact Tracy Press reporter Jennifer Wadsworth at 830-4225 or jwadsworth@tracypress.com.

Ellie