Today in American History: July 8, 1918

Today in American History: July 8, 1918

Ernest Hemmingway was a native of Oak Park, Illinois. He was just 18 years old when he joined World War I and was an ambulance driver for the Red Cross. On July 8, 1918 his ambulance was hit by a mortar shell while serving along the Piave delta while serving on the Italian front.

Before joining the war, Hemingway was working for the Kansas City Star as a reporter. Then in 1914 war broke out in Europe. He volunteered for the Red Cross in France before the United States entered the war in April 1917. He was later transferred to the Italian front. He was present for a handful of Italian successes along the Piave delta. In the first few days of July 1918, 3,000 Austrians were taken prisoner. However, on the night of the 8th, Hemingway was struck by an Austrian mortar shell as he was handing out chocolates to Italian soldiers. The blast knocked him unconscious and into one of the Italian dugouts, effectively burying him. Fragments from the mortar shell had ripped through his right foot an knee and struck his thighs, scalp and hand. The two Italian soldiers who stood between Hemingway and the mortars point of impact were not so fortunate. One was killed instantly and another had both his legs blown off and died not long after.

Hemingway's friend ted Brumbach had visited him in the hospital. He ended up writing to Hemingway's parents that, "A third Italian was badly wounded and this one Ernest, after he had regained consciousness, picked up on his back and carried to the first aid dugout. He says he did not remember how he got there, nor that he carried the man, until the next day, when an Italian officer told him all about it and said that it had been voted to give him a valor medal for the act." Brumbach reported that his friend was awarded the Italian Medal of Valor, the Croce de Guerra, for his bravery. Ernest wrote his own letter home and claimed, "Everything is fine and I am very comfortable and one of the best surgeons in Milan is looking after my wounds."

Because of his experiences in World War I, he would author one of his most loved novels, A Farewell to Arms, which depicts the love story of a young American ambulance drover and an English nurse on the frontlines of WWI.

 

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