Verlyn Durnel Hanson
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Navy
Verlyn Durnel Hanson served in World War II and in the Korean War.
He attempted to enlist in the Navy in 1943 at age seventeen but did not pass the physical because he had a perforated right eardrum. He tried again at age eighteen, but again was classified 4F.
Mr. Hanson was not deterred. He had worked as a seaman on the Great Lakes ore boats. He could have his seaman’s papers changed from freshwater to saltwater vessels by means of Coast Guard regulations. He did, and that is what enabled him to join the Merchant Marine, an auxiliary of the U.S. Navy during wartime. His rank was Able Seaman.
Mr. Hanson served in the South Pacific from February until August 1945. He was assigned to the Marshall Islands and to Peleliu in the Palau Group. While there, he contracted an ear infection. It was briefly treated on the island, but because he was boarding a ship for San Francisco a few days later, nothing else was done for it. Mr. Hanson was discharged on August 3, 1945, and returned to Minnesota. In the meantime, his infected ear healed, forming scar tissue over the previously perforated area.
Six years later, Mr. Hanson requested military reclassification and successfully passed the Army physical. On March 13, 1951, he was sworn into the U.S. Army. He served aboard a freight supply ship, part of the 110th U.S. Harbor Craft Company, 110th Transportation Company, 5th Army. His rank was Corporal; his job was Boatswain. Mr. Hanson was discharged on March 13, 1953.
Mr. Hanson was born in 1926 in Eddy Township, Clearbrook, Minnesota, the son of Edwin and Alice Hanson. He graduated from high school in 1944 in Bagley, Minnesota.
Source: Veterans’ Memorial Hall veteran history form; veteran’s account (below)
“My military history actually begins in July 1943. As soon as I reached the age of seventeen, I enlisted in the Navy. I did not pass my physical due to a perforated eardrum in my right ear. Then a year later when I turned eighteen I volunteered to be drafted. I wanted to go for my physical at the same time two of my buddies were going; again I did not pass. As I had experience as a seaman on Great Lakes ore boats I could, through Coast Guard regulation, have my seaman’s papers from the lakes changed to saltwater vessels. This enabled me to become a merchant seaman.
“In February 1945, I was on a ship docked in Boston when I received a message from home advising me that one of my buddies had been killed in the Battle of the Budge. I got off the ship that I was one and shipped out on a Liberty ship that was bound or the southwest Pacific. This voyage took me to the Marshall Islands and to Peleliu in the Palau group.
“While down in the hot humid weather, I got a fungus infection in my right ear. I was treated at an aid station on the island. The ship that I was on was going to sail back to San Francisco in a few days so nothing else was done for my ear. I was discharged on August 3, 1945, in San Francisco and returned home to Minnesota. The fungus infection gradually cleared itself, and as it healed it formed a scar tissue over my eardrum. This eventually led to my serving in the Army years later.
“Six years later: I had never liked carrying a 4F classification from the Selective Service. I now had a chance to change it. When I returned from Alaska in the fall of 1950, I went to the Selective Service office and requested to be reclassified. I was quite confident that I would now pass a physical. I did, and on March 13, 1951, I was sworn into the Army. I spent two years in the Army and served as a bosun on an Army FS, a freight supply ship. Ironic, to say the least.”
