R.I.P. Lance Cpl. Matthias N. Hanson

Marine Lance Cpl. Matthias N. Hanson
Died February 21, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

20, of Buffalo, Ky.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Feb. 21 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

(The following was taken from www.examiner.com of Feb. 24, 2010) UPDATE: The funeral for Lance Cpl. Matthias N. Hanson will be held on Saturday at LaRue County High School.

The News-Enterprise reports that the remains of 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Hanson of Buffalo were returned to LaRue County on Friday.

Lance Cpl. Matthias N. Hanson, 20, of Buffalo, Ky., died on Sunday while supporting combat operations in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, where a major offensive by U.S. and Afghan forces is being waged against the Taliban, according to the Defense Department. Buffalo is a community south of Hodgenville in Larue County, 45 miles south of Louisville. Hanson, who joined the Marine Corps in June, 2008, served as a rifleman in the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force.

The News-Enterprise of Elizabethtown, Ky., reported on Tuesday that Hanson, who played football for LaRue County High School, is survived by two brothers who also serve in the military and his parents, step-parents and three sisters. “During his time at LaRue County High School, Matt spoke often of his desire to join the Marines,” said Paul Mullins, the school's principal.

Hanson moved to Kentucky from Michigan three years before graduating from high school, and Tim Devaney, writing in The Grand Rapids Press, reports:

When Lance Cpl. Matthias Hanson joined the Marines in 2007, he was following a long family history of military service. His father had served in the Gulf War, his stepfather in Vietnam. His brother currently is serving in the Army. And the family has relatives who served in both World Wars.

But on Sunday, Hanson, a 20-year-old who formerly attended Greenville High School, became the first member of his family to be killed in combat when he was shot in Afghanistan, according to his uncle, Max Watts of Greenville. Hanson joined the Marines out of high school, thinking, "'OK, I'm going to show them. I'm going to be a Marine. I'm going to do them all better,'" Watts recalled. "He wanted to be the best. He wanted to show everybody he could be the best." Watts said a memorial service will also be held in Greenville, but no dates have been set for either the memorial service or the funeral.

In 2005, Hanson moved to Hodgenville, Ky., where he graduated from Larue County High School in 2008. His mother, Mary Huff, father, Lowell Hanson II, and sister, Megan Dohn, all live in Kentucky. His brother, Lowell Hanson III, who is stationed in Germany, is flying back for the funeral, which will be held in Kentucky. Hanson also has a handful of other relatives in West Michigan and Kentucky. "He was just the most cheerful kid that you'd ever seen," said his aunt, Jennifer Harding of Greenville. "He was always a big part of the family."

Gov. Steve Beshear has ordered that flags at all state office buildings be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on the day of Lance Cpl. Hanson’s interment for which arrangements are still pending. UPDATE: The funeral for Lance Cpl. Matthias N. Hanson will be held on Saturday at LaRue County High School.