World War II Honoree
World War II Veteran
John Hadley Nicanor 'Jack' Hemingway
Branch of Service
U.S. Army
Hometown
New York, New York
Honored By
Pearl Thomas
He enlisted in the U.S. Army after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Assigned overseas to France in 1944, he started as a military police officer commanding a special unit of black soldiers, and later obtained a transfer into the Office of Strategic Services. As a French-speaking First Lieutenant with the OSS, he worked with the French Resistance. In France in late October 1944 he was wounded and captured by the Germans behind enemy lines in the Vosges, and was held as a prisoner of war at Moosburg Prison Camp until April 1945. Upon his release, he was flown to Paris in time to join the crowds celebrating VE-Day on May 8, 1945 in the Champ Elysees. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the government of France for his wartime service.