Raymond J. Hansen was born on July 15, 1912, in Denmark, Brown County, Wisconsin. He was the son of Peter Adam Hansen and Anne Petra Madsen Hansen. He was married to Leona A. Marks Bartel. He practiced as a Protestant Chaplain at the Evangelical United Brethren Church-Augusta, Wisconsin.

Raymond served in the 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, as a Captain and a Chaplain during World War II. As a chaplain in the Army, Hansen was often in the line of fire. Chaplains routinely helped the wounded and served at temporary graves close to the battlefield. He was Killed in Action on June 11, 1944, in the vicinity of Fresville, when he was hit by a German sniper's bullet while he was in the front lines, tending to the wounded. Cpt Hansen is now buried in the Normandy American Cemetery and was awarded the Purple Heart.