Hemingway’s War,During World War II, the famed writer Ernest Hemingway became a war correspond

Hemingway’s War,During World War II, the famed writer Ernest Hemingway became a war correspondent, one who was responsible for photographing some of the fiercest of the frontline action.  Hemingway was no stranger to war, being wounded while serving with the Italian Army in World War I and working as a correspondent in the Spanish Civil War.  Unlike most journalists, Hemingway was not afraid to work right in the midst of combat, and on several occasions Hemingway was known to have had close calls with mortar shells, artillery shells, machine guns, and sniper bullets.  Nor was Hemingway one who believed himself to be a mere observer or non-combatant.  On August 3rd, 1944, in the town of Villedieu-les-Poeles, Hemingway was embedded with a combat platoon and serving double duty as translator, being fully fluent in French and German.  When he learned from townspeople that some German soldiers had holed up in a cellar, he accompanied the platoon to root them out.  He shouted down the cellar stairs for them to surrender, when they refused, he responded, “OK, then divide these amongst yourselves”, at which point he tossed three hand grenades into the cellar.  Perhaps the most legendary of Hemingway lore was from the liberation of Paris, where he liberated his favorite drinking hole, the Ritz Hotel Paris.  Having befriended a number of French Resistance fighters, he entered Paris ahead of the Allied forces with his small private army, securing the hotel in case the Germans decided to loot or demolish it.Perhaps Hemingway’s finest hour came on December 4th, 1944 when he was attached to the 22nd Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division, commanded by Col. Charles “Buck” Langham.  The 4th Infantry Division had been ordered to clear out the Hürtgen Forest of German troops along the Belgian/German border.  The campaign was a dismal failure, and the 2nd Regiment alone suffered 2,678 casualties after 18 days of fighting.  In the midst of the battle, a platoon of German soldiers managed to break Allied lines and assaulted Langham’s command post. During the fight, Hemingway picked up a Thompson submachine gun and helped fend off the attack. For his bravery during World War II, Ernest Hemingway was awarded the Bronze Star, one of the few civilians to be awarded the decoration. -- source link

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