ritterk Posted October 21, 2013 Share #1 Posted October 21, 2013 Can anyone confirm for me Ernest Hemingway's full medal entitlement for WW1 and WW2, and does his medal group exist in a museum somewhere on display? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USMCR79 Posted October 21, 2013 Share #2 Posted October 21, 2013 There are a few medals and his helmet on display ay his house/museum in Key West Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Nier Posted October 21, 2013 Share #3 Posted October 21, 2013 Hemingway served in WW1 as a volunteer ambulance driver with the Italian Army, on the northern Italian front against Austria. I seem to recall a note in an old issue of Journal OMSA, which quoted "Papa" as having received a silver bravery medal "Al Valore Militare", and three awards of the Italian War Merit Cross. But I can't now find this reference. He would definitely have worn the ribbon of the Italian WW1 commemorative medal. In fact, this multi-striped ribbon can be spotted in the above photo of him in his Italian uniform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emccomas Posted October 21, 2013 Share #4 Posted October 21, 2013 Hemmingway was also awarded a Bronze Star from the US in 1947 for his assistance in anti-submarine patrolling from Cuba. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritterk Posted October 22, 2013 Author Share #5 Posted October 22, 2013 Yes, as the holder of the silver 'Al Valore Militare' he would have been eligible for the Italian War Cross..... But as an US Ambulance volunteer was he entitled to the Italian Victory Medal or the US Victory Medal? - with campaign bars?... And did he qualify for any WW2 campaign medals as a war correspondent? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Nier Posted October 25, 2013 Share #6 Posted October 25, 2013 I believe Hemingway was directly recruited by the Italian Army, and was not involved with or trained by the American Field Service. So I would bet that he rated the Italian Victory Medal, and also the italian Commemorative medal with 1917 & 1918 dated bars.. He would have qualified for the US Victory Medal only if he officially transferred to the AEF sometime before the 11-11-1918 Armistice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DakotaDave Posted October 25, 2013 Share #7 Posted October 25, 2013 His biographer, Carlos Baker, states that he was a volunteer for the Red Cross Ambulance Service. DakotaDave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Nier Posted October 30, 2013 Share #8 Posted October 30, 2013 I located the article in OMSA's "The Medal Collector" that referred to Hemingway's Italian awards. It was a note by Gary Krug published in the June 1981 issue, on page 20. Gary wrote that Time Magazine had reviewed his (then) latest book "Across the River and into the Trees", which review appeared in Time's issue of 11 September 1950, page 110. At that time, they contacted Hemingway, then living in Cuba, about his Italian awards and other matters pertinent to composing the review. Hemingway replied by cable that he did receive a Silver Valor Medal and three awards of the War Merit Cross. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willysmb44 Posted October 31, 2013 Share #9 Posted October 31, 2013 And did he qualify for any WW2 campaign medals as a war correspondent? I have no idea if he was awarded anything in WW2 during his time in the ETO, but several correspondents were awarded medals. Mostly, it was to ensure that the general who pinned them on got his name in the papers, but I have press photos of correspondents being awarded purple hearts, and one getting a bronze star. Technically, they probably shouldn't have been awarded them, but this seems to have been a grey area that the US military looked the other way on, several times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12thengr Posted November 1, 2013 Share #10 Posted November 1, 2013 'Papa', was awarded a Bronze Star medal in 1947. According to the writer Malcom Crowley it was earned for his war reporting in WWII. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croix de Guerre Posted December 27, 2013 Share #11 Posted December 27, 2013 Hemingway volunteered for service with the American Red Cross Italian Ambulance service in the late fall of 1917 after being denied enlistment in the US Army because of a defective eye. Throughout the summer of 1917 the American Red Cross actively recruited volunteers in the US and in France for a proposed expanded ambulance service to operate in Italy much in the same fashion as the American Field Service had done in France. Note: Hemingway did not EVER serve in the American Field Service. In the fall of 1917 as the US military began to take over the pre-exsisting civilian volunteer ambulance units (The American Field Service and the Norton-Harjes Formations), many former ambulance volunteers found that they were being denied enlistment because they could not meet the Army's physical requirements. Some former ambulance men were devote pacifists and would not serve in the US military no matter what the reason. It was from this nucleus of former ambulance men and new recruits from the states (like Hemingway) that the six American Red Cross in Italy ambulance sections were formed. Hemingway, was assigned to Section IV. Apparently the section that Papa was assigned to was not as busy as he would've liked and so he began to volunteer to go up to the front lines as part of a "canteen service" to delivery candy and cigarettes to the Italian soldiers in the trenches. It was in this capacity that Hemingway was wounded by artillery fire. "There was a flash, as when a blast-furnace door is swung open, and a roar that started white and went red. I tried to breathe but my breath would not come. The ground was torn up and in front of my head there was a splintered beam of wood. In the jolt of my head I heard somebody crying. I heard the machine guns and rifles firing across the river. I tried to move but I could not move... The Italian I had with me had bled all over my coat, and my pants looked like somebody had made currant jelly in them and then punched holes to let the pulp out... I told them in Italian that I wanted to see my legs, though I was afraid to look... So we took off my trousers and the old limbs were still there but they were a mess. They couldn't figure out how I had walked 150 yards with a load with both knees shot through and my right shoe punctured in two big places also over 200 flesh wounds." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 13, 2018 Share #12 Posted November 13, 2018 Here's your chance to own Hemingway's Italian medals... https://www.hermann-historica.de/en/l/175260/ernest_hemingway_a_silver_medal_for_bravery_al_valore_militare_of_1918?aid=177&Lstatus=0¤tpos=24 Starting bid is a cool 12,000 Euros... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 13, 2018 Share #13 Posted November 13, 2018 And a photo for historical purposes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 13, 2018 Share #14 Posted November 13, 2018 The reverses... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3mxd Posted November 13, 2018 Share #15 Posted November 13, 2018 The "Ten." on the first line of the naming of his AVM is his rank, Tenente = 1st Lieut. I wonder how these two came on the market? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 13, 2018 Share #16 Posted November 13, 2018 If the provenance was air-tight on these medals, and I had the money, I'd definitely be a bidder in the auction. How much more of a "pearl of great price" group could you find than having Papa Hemingway's medals??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritterk Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share #17 Posted November 14, 2018 Yes, you could add the Italian War Merit Cross and WW1 Victory Medal to the group (which were issued unnamed...) - and display as Papa's WWI medal group...if you had a spare 12,000 Euros... Presumably 'Tenente' was an honorary rank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medalman90 Posted November 15, 2018 Share #18 Posted November 15, 2018 I don’t recall having seen Italian Valor Medals with the recipients rank engraved on them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin_Militaria Posted November 15, 2018 Share #19 Posted November 15, 2018 One of Hemingway's WWII War correspondent uniforms is hanging in the Hemingway House in Cuba. It is rather sad that is covered in dust hanging in a corner. I will dig up the photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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