World War II Honoree

John Richard Hersey

Hometown

New York

Honored By

Pearl Thomas

War correspondent for Newsweekly and wrote articles for Time and Life magazines. He accompanied Allied troops on their invasion of Sicily and Italy, survived four airplanes crashes, and was commended by the Secretary of the Navy for his role in helping evacuate wounded soldiers from Guadalcanal. In 1944, he began working in the Pacific Theater of Operations and followed Lieutenant John F. Kennedy through the Solomon Islands. He was one of the first Western journalists to view the ruins of Hiroshima after the bombing.