The determination of a 16-year-old boy to share in his nation’s World War I military responsibilities, despite the Army’s minimum age requirement, is reflected today in a strong and still growing Birmingham steel fabricating company.
In 1919, after the conclusion of World War I, Walter J. Hanna, who was still two years underage, was accepted as an enlistee in the Alabama National Guard by fabricating his birth date. He was picked as the best-drilled soldier in the Alabama Guard and was promoted to second lieutenant before he was 21 years old. In 1921, he won the Southern Amateur junior lightweight boxing championship, weighing in at 128 pounds. He also set a state record for the offhand rapid-fire marksmanship, hitting 98 out of 100 with the rifle. He won many marksmanship trophies and moved up to captain in the Guard. He earned the nickname “Crack” for being an expert marksman.
He was “the soldier’s soldier,” because, as he said, I never asked a soldier to do anything I couldn’t do and didn’t do.” At Camp Blanding, Florida, he was put in charge of marksmanship and bayonet training. He laid out a 100-yard obstacle course for bayonet training. At 39 years old, he broke the world’s record, running the course in 28 seconds.
