Biography of William Hansen by Joel Rexroat, Brogan Monty, and Dayshawn Dunigan
“Freedom means acknowledging the sacrifice to the men and women that served before me to allow me to do what I want.” These words by William Keith Hansen show how he feels about those who gave their lives and served in the United States military. We had the privilege of interviewing William Keith Hansen, Brogan Monty’s grandfather, and are honored to share his story.
William was born on December 15, 1952, to Keith and Joann Hansen. He also grew up with five siblings: Kim, Dianne, Greg, Peggy, and Lisa. In his youth, he enjoyed sports, fishing, and hunting.
Growing up, William attended Montrose Elementary School, Beloit Elementary School, and also Beloit Junior-Senior High School. He attended Montrose Elementary in grades first through fourth and Beloit Elementary School and Beloit Junior/Senior High School for the rest of his schooling. He was a fantastic speller, and he remarked, “I even won the county spelling bee.” After graduating from Beloit High, he later attended Butler County Community College and also Cloud County Community College.
Back in 1970, there was a draft to join the military due to the Vietnam War. All boys upon turning eighteen would register; if their numbers were called, they would have to join the military. William’s draft number was three, and his number did get called. He then enlisted to serve his country in the Navy instead of the Army.
Although William was used to working hard because he grew up on a farm, he was young (only eighteen) when he joined the Navy, and the training was difficult. He first went to San Diego, California, for basic training for at least sixteen weeks. He claimed that, “It was quite a shocker.” William was not used to such hard work. William said, “It was eat, sleep, and repeat. He did not get trained for one special job in boot camp, and he did not request a specific job that he wanted. William got placed in the boiler room. However, when he first walked onto the ship, the USS Putman 757 with 380 sailors, he was considered a fresh seaman. His job then was chipping and scraping paint. William said, “Work was grueling.” He was also assigned to the USS William C. Lawe 763. He was later stationed in New Orleans and Cuba at the time.
William told us about some of the conditions on the Navy ships. He said, “The food was just ok.” The sailors had to put their trays in slots that were intended to be tables, so whenever the ship moved, their trays stayed stable and did not slide all over the place or fall on the floor. He said he got used to drinking milk halfway so it would not spill all over him. They also had many rules at the training camp. The most important rule was knowing the chain of command. He said that one time he walked right by a commander and never saluted him, but the next time he saluted the wrong person. He said he did not know his commanding officers; only the higher ranks knew the commanding officers. In his free time, which he did not have that much of, he wrote letters to his high school girlfriend Kris (who later became his wife) and played cards. William’s uniforms were just normal work clothes unless there was a special occasion where he had to wear either his dress whites or his dress blues. William made friends in the military that he is still in contact with to this day. When they were not out at sea, he could go out and see his friends.
After the Vietnam War, William decided to stay in the service for two more years. William commented, “I appreciate what I did more now than back then.”
After William got released from the Navy, he drove home to Beloit, Kansas. There was a party for the troops coming home, but he was two days late, so he did not make it. Sadly, when William got back to Beloit, Kansas, some of the civilians were rude to him and there was a different atmosphere towards war veterans.
Upon returning home, William started farming, and he is still farming now. He also works at Hansen Auction and Realty with his son Luke and his daughter Heather. Once he got back, he also married Kris on November 27, 1975. They have been together for forty-six years and were blessed with children: Heather, Haleigh, and Luke. They also have five grandchildren: Taylor, Brogan, Dawson, Maci, and Parker.
William has been a part of Mitchell County Cattlemen, KLA. William said, “It has been a good life. I proudly served and have enjoyed being a ranch farmer.”
We are very honored we had the opportunity to interview William Keith Hansen, and we thank him for his service.
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