Jack Hemingway: The Son Also Rises
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The debut novel of Ernest Hemingway, the great 20th century writer, was titled “The Sun Also Rises.” It was dedicated to his wife & son, John Hemingway, known as Jack.
During #WWII Jack Hemingway served w #OSS.
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Jack grew up surrounded by some of the most fascinating people of 20th century: artists, poets, musicians, & writers, to include Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, & Gertrude Stein.
Fluent in French, English, & Austrian, his language skills would earn him a position w #OSS.
At 19, Jack left @dartmouth to join @USArmy where he was assigned to the Military Police & attended Officer’s Candidate School. His prior readings & knowledge of military helped him graduate in top 10% of his class.
While inspecting a military installation overseas, a commanding officer asked Jack if he could teach weapons training in French & of course he could.
Officer told Jack if he volunteered for hazardous duty, he would process Jack’s application outside of regular channels.
3 weeks later, Jack reported to #OSS training camp in Algeria. He was one of the youngest teachers & one of the few who hadn’t seen action prior to instructing.
Students were given fake names upon arrival & were never permitted to discuss backgrounds.
Jack’s 1st mission was to parachute into Nazi-occupied France, behind enemy lines, to help w communications & to act as liaison w local anti-German resistance. He also armed & trained them & helped resistance impede German movements in the area.
An avid fisherman, Jack packed his fishing rod w mission supplies.
When officer in charge told Jack he was not permitted to jump w a fishing rod, Jack responded it was an antenna disguised to look like a fly rod.
October 1944: while on an assignment to recruit, train, & infiltrate agents through enemy lines, Jack departed for a safe-house in enemy territory.
As he neared destination, German mountain troops opened fire & he was hit 3 times in right arm & shoulder before surrendering.
During his interrogation it was revealed that the German commander’s girlfriend had once been Jack’s nurse when he was a child living in Austria. The questioning ended w a toast of Schnapps to the woman.
Jack was still sent to a POW camp for officers near Hammelburg, Germany.
One day after roll call, a German soldier asked Jack if he was related to Ernest Hemingway. Jack admitted he was. The soldier then confessed he was an admirer of his father’s work & stated he had been an American Literature professor & had taught Ernest’s writings.
March 1945: Task Force Baum liberated POW camp. However, they only anticipated 300 POWs, not the 3,000 looking for rescue. Officers were able to ride on top of vehicles, the rest were told to walk 50 miles to American lines. Most were too weak to walk & elected to stay behind.
Jack hoisted himself up onto a tank. It didn’t take long for 1st ambush. Jack escaped, but hadn’t gotten very far when he heard the explosion of American tanks being blown up by Germans. None of the 50+ vehicles survived the mission.
After several days of running, Jack was recaptured & sent to Nürnberg. Shortly after arriving, camp was evacuated. As prisoners marched, they were mistakenly fired on by US pilots. Germans had prisoners lay on ground & spell out “US POW” to avoid more friendly-fire.
Once, after an exhausting day of marching & desperate for nourishment, Jack found a small stream. He decided to try & catch a fish with his bare hands. He was successful in grabbing a seven inch trout. He & 2 others ate well that night.
After 10 days of marching nearly 12 miles a day they arrived in Stalag VII-A.
April 29, 1945: the POW camp was liberated & Jack linked up w former #OSS colleagues. They hitched a ride to @USArmy HQ where they checked in w OSS.
Jack was given priority status to London, where he was debriefed by X2, OSS’s counterintel section. After reporting to #OSS HQ in DC, he was given 2 months of leave & nearly 9 months of back pay.
When war started, Jack weighed around 210lbs. He now weighed under 140.
#OSS described Jack as resourceful, courageous, & self-assured enough to be an excellent ops officer. But, his new assignment to carry out secret missions in Far East was canceled @ end of #WWII & he was made commanding officer @ German POW camp at Camp (now Fort) Pickett, VA.
Jack received Croix de Guerre from the French for his wartime service & was awarded the Bronze Star Medal from @USArmy Commander for meritorious service in direct support of combat operations.
Jack was released from @USArmy in November 1945. He flew to Cuba to visit his father, then to Utah to ski w Gary Cooper & Clark Gable.
He enrolled @umontana, although he never graduated. But while in Missoula, he decided one day he would settle down in the mountains out west.
Jack married Byra Whittlesey in Paris, France on June 25, 1949. Julia Child, another #OSS veteran (1.usa.gov/1gqDnkN), was maid-of-honor.
They had 3 children.
Jack worked as a stockbroker & then as a fishing supply salesman.
In 1967, Jack retired & moved to Ketchum, Idaho, his father's last home & burial place. There he taught languages, pursued his passion for fly fishing, & wrote two autobiographical books.
Jack died on December 1, 2000, at age 77.
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