Army Staff Sgt. Dennis J. Hansen

Remember Our Heroes

Army Staff Sgt. Dennis J. Hansen, 31, of Panama City, Fla.

SSgt. Hansen was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.; died Dec. 7, at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit on Dec. 3, 2009 with an improvised explosive device in Logar province, Afghanistan.

News Herald -- A Panama City native has died of injuries suffered at war in Afghanistan, the Army said Thursday.

Staff Sgt. Dennis J. Hansen died Monday at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, military officials said. The 31-year-old sergeant was a husband and a father of three young children.

Hansen was wounded in a Dec. 3 blast in Afghanistan’s Logar province, according to the Army. Kerry Buchenroth, who identified himself as Hansen’s uncle, told the Bellefontaine (Ohio) Examiner that Hansen was clearing the second floor of a building when an improvised explosive device detonated.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) at Fort Drum, N.Y. He arrived at Fort Drum in July 2005.

Hansen graduated in 1996 from Indian Lake High School in Lewistown, Ohio, where he grew up as an adopted child, Buchenroth told the Examiner. He joined the Army immediately after graduation.

His previous deployments included four months in Iraq from March to July 2004 and 16 months in Afghanistan from February 2006 to June 2007.

Over his 13 years of service, Hansen earned decorations including the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

Army Staff Sgt. Dennis J. Hansen was killed in action on 12/03/09.