Schools
St. Thomas Academy Instructor Receives Long-Awaited Purple Heart
1st Sgt. Frank Hanson, a freshman leadership teacher at St. Thomas Academy, was honored Tuesday morning.
After three combat tours in Vietnam, 1st Sergeant Frank Hanson was not concerned with honors.
“When I returned from Vietnam, I left everything with my mother,” he said of his two Silver Stars for Heroism, seven Bronze Stars and Combat Infantryman’s Badge. “It wasn’t until years later that I realized the Purple Heart may have been missed.”
After submitting the proper documentation to a military corrections board, Hanson waited a year before the distinction was approved.
Nearly 43 years after being wounded in combat, Hanson, a leadership instructor at Saint Thomas Academy, was finally awarded the Purple Heart on Tuesday in a special presentation at the school.
“The Army is a very large organization, and things like this can happen,” Commandant of Cadets Lt. Col. Michael DePuglio said of the paperwork errors that caused the delay. “We’re just happy that it is finally here.”
While many STA alumni have been honored with the Purple Heart, Hanson is the first instructor at the school to receive the medal according to DePuglio. “This is exciting for all of us,” said DePuglio.
In addition to the entire student body, several alumni attended the ceremony.
Find out what's happening in Mendota Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“I always really liked him as a teacher, and we wanted to come out and show our respect for him,” said Tim Fitzpatrick, a 2009 STA graduate and student at Carleton College. He and his brother Dan Fitzpatrick, a 2010 graduate currently studying at UCLA, attended the presentation together.
“I just found out that this was a possibility,” Star Hanson, Sgt. Hanson’s wife of 34 years, said, surprised and pleased about her husband’s distinction. “I’m just so proud of him.”
Hanson served with Recon Platoon, Echo Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He was injured in combat in Vinh Provence, Republic of Vietnam on April 25, 1968.
The Purple Heart is not the only milestone Hanson is reaching this year: He plans to retire from Saint Thomas Academy in June. Hanson has been at the school since his retirement from the Army in 1985, teaching leadership to freshman. He estimates he has instructed at least 2,600 Cadets over the years.
“I’ve enjoyed getting to know them,” said Hanson, “And some of them have even come back to tell me they enjoyed my teaching, too.”