Second Lieutenant Hansen was commissioned from Master Sergeant posthumously. He was a platoon leader in Company G, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action while destroying an enemy machine gun emplacement near Taehwa-myron, South Korea, on 12 March 1951.

Hansen was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.