Manila, Philippines – An American family who fought alongside Filipinos during World War 2 received several medals from the government in recognition of their “heroism and service to the cause of freedom.”
Among the medals bestowed on the Hansen family – Charles and his son Rudyard, who both received the awards posthumously, and Henry – were the Philippine Liberation Medals, World War 2 Victory Medal, Asia-Pacific Medal, and Presidential Unit citation badge.
“I feel like a hero,” Henry, now 85-years-old, told Philippine Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Domingo Nolasco who presented the medals on behalf of Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Cuisia Jr., who was in New Jersey to attend the investiture of the first Filipino-American university president. “Of course, you are a war hero,” Nolasco said as he expressed gratitude to Hansen’s family on behalf of a grateful nation.
Henry was accompanied by his siblings Charlotte, Ed, Virginia, author of “Guerrilla Daughter” in which she narrated her family’s experiences in the Philippines during the war, and her husband Kent Holmes, a US Navy officer. (Roy C. Mabasa)