Lyle Hansen is Missing

Blair Staff Sergeant Reported Missing In Action Over Austria

Official notification that their son, Staff Sgt. Lyle Hansen, has been missing in action since February 23, was received this week by Mr. and Mrs. L. E. Hansen of Blair. The war department telegram stated that Sgt. Hansen had been lost over Austria.

A letter with further details concerning the missing Blair boy is expected to arrive from war headquarters within a few days.

Sgt. Hansen, whose 20th birthday occurred March 3, was graduated from Blair high school in 1940, and prior to his induction into the army on December 12, 1942, he was employed by the North Omaha Dairy. He received his military training at St. Petersburg, Tex.; Denver, Colo.; and Tucson, Ariz. His last army post while in the United States was Alamogordo, N.M.

Starting his journey overseas early in December, Sgt. Hansen arrived in Italy shortly before Christmas, 1943. It is assumed that he was taking part in the great Allied bombing raid over Austrian territory when he was lost.

The Hansens have three other sons in the armed service – Milton, Roy and Edward – all of whom are serving overseas.

Another News Article:

Lyle Hansen Declared to be Among Dead

Failed To Return From Bombing Mission When Over Austria

S.Sgt. Lyle L. Hansen, son of Mr. and Mrs. Louis E. Hansen, who was reported missing in action by the War Department on February 23, 1944, was declared dead this week.

According to records and official information he was a crew member of a B-24 (Liberator) bomber, which failed to return from a bombing mission to Steyr, Austria, on February 23, 1944. The plane was attacked and forced down by enemy aircraft near Wels, Austria. A repartriated crew member states that he plane went down on a mountain near the village of Frunau, Austria, and that he is buried there along with his fellow crew members.

In a letter to S.Sgt. Hansen’s parents, Edward F. Witsell of the Adjutant General office said that the War Department must terminate his absence by a presumptive finding of death, since no information has been received from the European Theater of Operations confirming the information on which they would support a presumption of his continued survival.

#2-Another News Article, no date

Lyle Hansen Is Missing In Austria

(Photo)

Youngest Of Four Boys In Service Missing Since February 23

Was Gunner On A Flying Fortress

Lyle Hansen, son of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Hansen of East South Street, is reported missing in action, according to a government message received by his parents last Sunday.

Lyle is the youngest of four Hansen sons in the armed forces and was well-known here. While few details have been revealed, it is understood that Lyle had been stationed in the Italian battle sector and that he turned up missing following a raid over Austria on February 23rd. He was a tail gunner on a Fortress.

It is not known whether Hansen’s ship was shot down and the crew captured or what might have become of him. He had been in the service about a year.

#3-Pilot Tribune 15 June 1944

Learn Two Escape From Liberator

Communique States That Two Chutes Left Falling Bomber

Renewed hope for their sons’ safety, however faint, was brought to Mr. and Mrs. Louie Hansen of Blair Tuesday when they received official information concerning staff Sgt. Lyle L. Hansen, 19, missing in action over Austria since February 23.

Sgt. Hansen’s B-24 Liberator bomber was seen to sustain damage and to fall toward the earth, states the report of Major E. A. Bradnas, Chief of AAF Casualty Branch in Washington, D.C. Two parachutes were seen to leave the falling craft at that time but prevailing battle conditions prevented further observations by crew members of accompanying planes.

The bomber of which Sgt. Hansen was a crew member departed from Southern Italy on February 23 on a bombardment mission to Steyr, Austria. Although full details could not be revealed, it has been reported that while approaching the target area our planes were attacked by enemy fighter craft. Sgt. Hansen’s Liberator was shot down in the ensuing engagement at about 1:10 p.m. near Wels, Germany.

Assuring Mr. and Mrs. Hansen that any additional information would be conveyed immediately the Casualty Branch Chief closed his sympathetic letter with the statement that he fully realized “the great anxiety caused by failure to receive more details concerning your son’s disappearance.”

Sgt. Hansen has a sister, Miss Mildred Hansen of Fremont, and three brothers Milton Roy and Ed, also serving overseas with the U.S. armed forces.

#4-8 Nov., 1945 - The Enterprise S-SGT LYLE HANSEN IS REPORTED DEAD Mr. and Mrs. Louis E. Hansen received a letter from the War Department which was written October 18th informing them of the death of their son, Staff Sergeant Lyle L. Hansen. He had been missing in action since February 23, 1944, but hopes had been entertained that he might have been captured. The end of the war and the releasing of war prisoners has not brought word of him, and the department has classified him as dead. This comes at a time when the father is in poor health, and the anxiety of the family, both for the son and the father, has been very great. The sympathy of Blair friends goes out to the family in their sorrow. #5-#1-.S. Army Air Corps

KIA 23 Feb 1944, buried France

RITES FOR SGT. HANSEN

LUTHERAN MEMORIAL SET FOR BLAIRITE, MISSING AFTER AUSTRIA FLIGHT

A memorial service will be held at First Lutheran church Sunday, at 2:30 p.m. for Sgt. Lyle Hansen, son of Mr. and Mrs. Louis E. Hansen of Blair, who disappeared Feb. 23, 1944, while on an air flight over Austria. First listed as missing, he is now designated by the war department as killed in action. He disappeared on his 14th mission.

The Rev. H.C. Jorgensen will conduct the memorial rites. Representatives of the local veterans’ organizations will attend, the American Legion providing a color guard. Reed O’Hanlon, sr., will speak of behalf of all service men. The public is invited to attend.

American Battle Monuments Commission – The World War II Honor Roll

Lyle L. Hansen

Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army Air Forces

17165525

723rd Bomber Squadron, 450th Bomber Group, Heavy

Entered the Service from: Nebraska

Died: February 23, 1944

Buried at: Plot K Row 45 Grave 20, Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France

Awards: Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart

#6-IN MEMORIAM SGT. LYLE L. HANSEN

(Photo)

Lyle L. Hansen was born March 3, 1923, on a farm east of Nelson, Nebraska, the son of Louis E. Hansen and his wife Anna Marie, nee Tolstrup. In his childhood he was baptized in the Lutheran Church at Ruskin, Nebraska. In 1927 the family moved to Blair, and here Lyle received his education, graduating from Blair High School in 1940. He attended the Sunday school of First Lutheran Church and was confirmed here on May 8, 1938. Previous to his enlistment in the Army Air Corps of the United States on December 12, 1942, he was employed by the Northside Dairy in Omaha. He received his wings as turret gunner at Alamogordo, New Mexico, in October, 1943, was assigned to overseas duty, arriving in Italy shortly before Christmas of 1943. He was a member of a B-24 Liberator bomber crew on a mission to Steyr, Austria, February 23, 1944. The bomber failed to return, and it was later revealed it had been forced down near Wels, Austria. That was on Lyle’s 14th mission. He lies buried on a mountain near the village of Grunau, Austria, together with seven of his crew members. Two of the crew, Lt. Lewis J. Samsa and Sgt. Robert A. Breneman, escaped from the plane. Lyle is survived by his parents, by three brothers, Roy and Milton of Blair, and Edward O. Hansen of Oakland, California, and by one sister, Mildred of Blair.

The Service Flag of the First Lutheran Church has stars for the following men and women: Gold Stars – Sgt. Nels Nelsen and Sgt. Lyle L. Hansen; blue stars for the following – Verner Carlsen, Walter Lyche, Gerhardt Nygaard, Andrew Hansen, Helen Pedersen, Dean Kempcke, Robert Wolsmann, Martin Kuhr, Jr., Paul Pedersen, Ray Hansen, Edward O. Hansen, Merle Sonderup, Wilma Nygaard, Philip Larsen, Edwin Simonsen, Paul Fisher, Elliott Hansen Edward B. Hansen, Clifford Paulsen, Ivan Rasmussen, Harold Schjodt, Eltar Olsen, Tage Brondum, Victor Vig, Milton Hansen, Roy Christensen, Burl Madsen Murl Madsen, Clarence Vig, Russell Lund, Roy Hansen, Vernette Johnson, Niles Hansen, Delmar Sonderup, Raymond Paulsen Theodore Nelsen Leo Sorensen, Johannes Kjoller, Raymond Beck, Gus Rolland, Raymond Carlsen, Einar Vig, Ray Lund, Ralph Beck, Gus Rolland, Robert Christensen, Eldred Kempcke, Gordon Kempcke, Edna Jensen, Kenneth Jensen, Donald Sorensen, Elmer Simonsen, Clifford Hansen, Marvin Goldbeck, John Voss, Hans Boe, Herman Simonsen, Arthur Pedersen, Agnes Simonsen, Ezra Larsen, Richard Johnson, Richard Nelson, Eunice Kuhr, Niels Carlsen Jr., Eunice Rolland and Marie Simonsen.

#7-29 Nov., 1945 - The Enterprise

MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR SGT. L. HANSEN DECEMBER 2ND

A memorial service will be held in the First Lutheran Church on Sunday afternoon, December 2, at 2:30 o’clock. Sgt. Hansen was listed as missing in action from February 23, 1944 until October 18 of this year when the War Department officially changed his status to that of killed-in-action. It was on his fourteenth mission over Steyr, Austria that his ship was forced down, and all but two of the crew lost their lives. Lyle is one of four sons that Mr. and Mrs. Louis E. Hansen of our city gave to the service of the country, and their daughter, Mildred, worked during the war in the ordnance plant at Mead.

Representatives of the veterans’ organization will be on hand for the service, with a color guard from the American Legion. Reed O’Hanlon will speak on behalf of the service men.

The public is invited to attend this service.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~

Find a Grave Memorials #'s 112048435 and 56655937