Veterans History Project

The Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.

In February 1968, Keith A. Hansen was still in high school when he enlisted in the US Navy. On the deferred enlistment program, one could pass the physical, take all the tests, and sign on the line. He/she was allowed to finish high school before going to boot camp. Keith graduated in May of 1968. In June, he was on the way to San Diego, CA, and the Navy Recruit Training Center.

This training center shares a fenced border with the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. In fact, Keith said, there was one young man who went AWOL. He climbed over the fence (and onto the MCRD)... and the Marines apprehended him. The Marines would make some hay with this acquisition... as they double-timed in formation runs, the Marines wore their usual stuff and double timed next to the Navy area. The AWOL guy was in the back of the formation wearing dungarees, and trying to keep up! They kept and trained him for a few weeks, just for fun, then contacted the Navy to say they could have him back! The AWOL guy was happy to be back in the Navy!

The usual things happened early-on. Haircuts, clothing and a re-shuffle of terms commonly heard in the English language. There's a galley where you eat. One goes through a hatch instead of a door. One sleeps in a bunk and the restroom is a "head". [Where are the headlights on a ship? They are in the ceiling of the restroom!] There was a variety of people making up the recruit class. About half were from the Midwest, but the rest came from all over the US.

When getting a sailors clothing, the men went along a long counter while holding open a duffle bag. The bag would get filled by people on the other side of the counter who pretty much guessed on the sizes. Once all their gear was issued, they moved to another room and were given stencils with their names and serial numbers. They were to name/label each item of clothing using the stencils.

Soon, there was a routine established. The day usually started by the training NCO who would come into the bay area of the barracks and kick the trash can down the center aisle. The trash can and the center aisle were polished and spotless... "Just get out of that bunk and let's get going!"

As the days passed, graduation started to look more and more like a reality! In August 1968, Keith graduated from boot camp and went on to "hospital corpsman" training, at a hospital in nearby Balboa, CA. From hospital corpsman school, Keith moved to Camp Pendleton for the Marines training in medical corpsman school. Keith did get some leave time during the holidays of 1968 into 1969. Once the training was completed at Camp Pendleton, each recruit had to go to a hospital for 6 months of duty. Keith went to Bremerton, WA and worked in the Navy hospital.

At the end of the required hospital training, Keith was soon assigned to a colorful tour in Southeast Asia. He was a trained Navy Corpsman serving with the US Marines. He went to the 3rd Marines at Quang-Tre. He was given a brief period of time to get acclimated to the country and the job. This place was the site of constant rocket attacks. The armament of this area was the "four deuce". This was four 80mm rockets fired at the same time. Being there four days and sitting in with a group of new faces, Keith heard the "thump, thump" sound. He thought the noise was to be that of incoming rockets, so he dived for cover. The other guys laughed and told him it was out going. Then the noise of a "crack" sounded, he and the rest of the men headed for the reinforced bunker!

In about the same time, there was a reassignment of Marines. Keith became a part of the 1st Marine Reconnaissance Battalion and moved west to the A Shau Valley. His group's mission here was to move out in 6 or 8 man units and covertly watch the enemy. Once they obtained information about enemy troop movement and numbers, they would radio it back to the operations center so that further action could take place. There was quite a bit to "hump" for the Marines going out on re-con patrols. They needed enough food, water, and ammunition to remain self-sufficient for up to 6 days. Although a corpsman was assigned to just a shoulder-holstered 1911A1 pistol, Keith made sure he was well supplied with additional firepower. After 6 months in-country, a corpsman was offered a chance to transfer to a hospital unit or go back to the "bush" with the Re-con unit. Keith went back to Re-con.

After 5 or so months in the "bush", Keith got injured and the injury was such that it required his being flown to a Hospital Ship. He healed up and was transferred to the 1st Medical Battalion. Here, he learned that he had been promoted to E-5. He also fulfilled the time requirement for action in Vietnam.

His unit personnel office offered him an opportunity to go to the Hospital Unit, but if he went there, he would have to take the exam for promotion. In that he had not exactly been in a studying environment, he hoped to just pass... the worst would be to fail it, so he tested. The promotion was forthcoming! Then he went back to working.

Now, he is continuing to go on reconnaissance missions. Keith is a twenty year old soldier. It's pretty young to be doing the things they were asked to do. Agent Orange was square in their midst as well. This nasty chemical defoliant affected many, many of our servicemen serving there. Being told "it won't hurt ya", it was sprayed from planes, helicopters and spouts mounted on trucks. Now, 40 to 50 yrs after the fight, thousands are feeling its effects on their bodies. Many more thousands will as time marches on.

To this point in time, Keith had been in many firefights. He had fired on the enemy, taken cover from and advanced on the enemy. He had saved lives. Many citizens who just recognize Viet Nam and theaters where other veterans fought don't really know the day to day actions of these warriors. There isn't a short answer to many of their questions. Sadly, many don't want to hear the answers provided.

Keith re-deployed to the US as his commitment in Viet Nam was up. When he returned and had a chance to visit family and friends, he went back to work. He befriended an Army soldier who told him about under-water diver training. Keith took lessons from the man and became certified in diving. He forwarded his education here to under-water demolition.

He graduated the training that was offered and was sent on to an under-water dive team at Point Magu, California. One of the pieces of work this particular base did was performing underwater explosions so the researchers could determine the effects of certain munitions. Based on the nature of the work, under-water divers were busy!

Keith took advantage of an opportunity to continue his training with a school in the Washington DC area. The classes here were about training the men to become "hard hat" divers. They could go much deeper and do more serious work-related tasks. Mostly the people doing this work could tolerate work at depths of 285 feet (or 300 with a different air configuration. When finished, Keith was assigned to a salvage ship and later became an instructor at the diving school.

With practice and more training, Keith became a Master Diver. This position was the supervisor of divers on all rigs at that base. In 1985, cancer struck this sailor. After all the diagnosis and hand wringing, surgery was performed. Keith survived it. His Navy work was restricted though. For two years, he continued to perform as an instructor.

He was promoted to Master Chief – the highest enlisted rank possible. The only way to achieve this rank is by education, perseverance, physical fitness, and the aptitude of continued great service to the Navy.

There was a cruel situation in the convergence of two pieces of music. Alone, each song was sweet and meaningful, but played back to back, sent Keith to a different place. One was "Ira Hayes" by Johnny Cash, the other was "Purple Haze" by Jimmy Hendricks. Two warriors died in January, while he was in Viet Nam. Each had and played their favorite songs. These two songs played in the same setting, brought on untold PTSD/mental trauma for Keith. It was too much. It required extra efforts by those around him to ensure his safety.

In 1990, Keith retired from active duty in the US Navy. He performed a variety of jobs/work after that. He retired as a mechanic for a school district in Iowa after 18 years service. Sadly, his wife was stricken with cancer and passed away. Now he travels the country seeing family and friends.

Master Chief Keith Hansen, you gave the US Navy a lot of good service! Thanks you for yours!