Disneyland proved crucial to Vietnam verteran's happiness

It took him 50u2009years to say what he needed to say.

And when he finally got it down on paper, the words came out short and sweet. On Mayu200931, five decades after he lay bleeding in a field in Vietnam worried if he would lose his leg, Lt.u2009Col. Dale Hanson wrote a letter to Michael Colglazier, the president of the Disney Resort.

In summary, here’s what that letter said: Thank you.

That’s about it. Hanson isn’t the kind of guy to go on and on.

What Hanson didn’t say … that’s a story so important that Disneyland officials chose to honor the Purple Heart recipient on Julyu20093 because they didn’t want his moment to be lost in the Fourth of July holiday events.

Sunday, Hanson gave a special introduction during Disneyland’s daily Flag Retreat Ceremony, which they have performed every day since the park opened in 1955. Afterward, he was congratulated by a dozen or so veterans who also came to salute the flag.

“It’s a wonderful miracle,” Hanson said through his tears. “Fifty years ago I didn’t know what the future was going to be. This is breathtaking.”

‘Childhood dream’

Hanson always wanted to be a pilot. He had an uncle who flew in World Waru2009II and another who was a flying ace in Korea. “My childhood dream,” he said.

He signed up for the ROTC program at Narboe High School in the early 1960s with his eye on becoming an aviator.

But when he took his physical, he was told he had “sun blindness,” which meant his eyes had trouble dealing with the glare of the sun. That condition prevented him from chasing his dream.

Hanson was drafted into the Army in Septemberu20091964. He trained in artillery at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

He became a forward observer — the scout in front of his unit — when he was shipped to Vietnam. He didn’t know it at the time, but he was exposed to Agentu2009Orange, a poison sprayed on the plant life that proved toxic for the people who came in contact with it.

On Julyu20094, 1966, Hanson and his infantry unit were in the central highlands, advancing across a field. Hanson was out in front scaing the horizon for enemies.

He was 20u2009years old.

Despite his training and caution, Hanson walked into a booby trap. He stepped on a punji stick, a sharp bamboo spike that had been covered in brush.

The punji stick went through his left foot. He couldn’t move.

“I was in a lot of pain,” he said. “I didn’t know if I would lose my leg.”

His buddy cut the punji stick so he could be moved. A helicopter crew rescued him. Hanson was airlifted to a hospital in South Vietnam.

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He woke up from surgery with a Purple Heart medal pied to his pillow.

“Other than that, there was no recognition at all,” he said.

After a week in the hospital, he went back to work. This time, he was assigned to be an observer in a helicopter unit.

He came home in Septemberu20091966.

The world was not ready for him, and he was not ready for the world.

“One day, you’re on a battlefield, and the next day you’re on the streets of Losu2009Angeles,” Hanson said.

Back in the U.S.

Hanson applied for every kind of nonskilled labor job he could imagine. No one was hiring. They didn’t want to hear about his military service, his leadership skills or the work ethic he picked up by risking his life for his country.

“The fact that I was a vet meant nothing,” he said. “No one was hostile to me, but there was no support. No one cared.”

He had trouble sleeping. He remembers noticing the oil refineries in Torrance. “There would be flare-ups when they but off the gas,” he said. “That would frighten me.”

After a couple of months of looking for work, he finally got a job as a janitor at the Navy shipyard in Longu2009Beach.

He was at work when he saw a flier for “Welcome Home” tickets to Disneyland for $1 apiece.

“I was looking for somewhere I could have a little peace of mind,” he said.

A happy place

In Novemberu20091966, Hanson went to Disneyland alone.

He didn’t go on any rides. He just picked a bench in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle and he sat. And he had a great time. He kept going back, sitting on the same bench for three, four, five hours just enjoying the happiness.

“For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t worrying about what was going on in the world,” he said. “I don’t know what I was looking for, but Disneyland gave me something I needed.”

Once, a security guard approached him and asked if he was OK. “I told him I was just sitting there trying to get my thoughts together,” Hanson said.

Hanson says now that he needed that time watching parents and children and people having fun to reassure himself that everything was fine in the world.

“People were moving around enjoying life,” he said. “I needed to see that.”

In 1970, he was diagnosed with a “nervous condition” that he now believes was post-traumatic stress disorder. He was officially diagnosed with PTSD in 2003.

Putting down roots

He got his life together in the 1980s. He met a woman named Teresa — now his wife — and one of their first dates was at Disneyland. He started what would be a long career in human resources.

They bought a house in Westminster.

“Putting down roots was part of my get-well program,” Hanson said. “Until I lived in Westminster, I was a gypsy.”

They had a son, Brandon, now 27, and Dale Hanson became one of the founding members of the Dolphin Dads program at Eastwood Elementary School. He organized oveight on the school grounds for the students.

He worked for 10 years on the Westminster School District Persoel Commission and served on the advisory board for the Westminster police chief.

In 2014, he found out that his exposure to Agentu2009Orange contributed to his failing heart. He needed five arteries bypassed.

It was during this time, when he was awaiting surgery, that he began to consider the tuing points of his life.

“We were touched by Mr. Hanson’s story and that Disneyland played a role in helping him,” said Suzi Brown, Disneyland spokeswoman.

The Hansons now live in Arroyo Grande, about a four-hour drive from Disneyland.

“I wrote that letter because I needed to have closure in my life,” Hanson said.

When he wrote the letter to Disney’s Colglazier, he didn’t expect to hear back.

But he’s happy he did.

“Whenever he talks about spending time at Disneyland, he gets very emotional,” Teresa Hanson said. “He’s not normally like that.”