French honor Hart for World War II efforts

CORNWALL — On Nov. 11, the 90th anniversary of the World War I armistice  (Veterans Day in the United States, Armistice Day in Europe), Cornwall’s Donald Hart received the highest honor the French government bestows on individuals, the French Legion of Honor, for extraordinary service in World War II.

The “Légion d’honneur,â€� also known in French as “Ordre national de la légion d’honneur,â€� was established by Napoléon Bonaparte on May 19, 1802.  The order’s motto is “Honor and fatherlandâ€� and its seat is at the Palais de la Légion d’Honneur, on the left bank in Paris.

Hart, 91, accompanied by his wife, Elvera, was one of 11 United States Armed Services veterans who receivedthe award, naming him a “chevalier,� or knight, of the Legion of Honor.

Hart learned of the honor a year ago, and shared his story with The Journal, while he was still living in his longtime residence here: the converted West Cornwall train depot (which is up for sale).

Upon receiving his medal at the French Consulate in New York last month, he repeated his strongest feeling about the honor: His sadness that he is the only one of his military unit still alive. There is no one he can share it with.

Two years before he received notification of the honor, the OSS Society (an organization created in honor of the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA) had advised him he should seek the medal.

Hart had served the Office of Strategic Command in 1944 and 1945 at General Omar Bradley’s headquarters in Normandy, where they worked with members of the French Resistance doing what was officially termed “intelligence.�

“We blew up railroads, factories, anything that would help the war effort,� he recalled, noting that those activities were really sabotage, not information gathering.

He recalled that General George Patton had unwittingly thwarted a key OSS initiative by sweeping toward Germany faster than Hart’s detachment could get its advance sabotage missions approved. At the end of the war, Hart was in Paris, debriefing intelligence personnel who were coming out of undercover assignments.

The Harts now reside at Noble Horizons in Salisbury.

Latest News

Housatonic softball beats Webutuck 16-3

Haley Leonard and Khyra McClennon looked on as HVRHS pulled ahead of Webutuck, May 2.

Riley Klein

FALLS VILLAGE — The battle for the border between Housatonic Valley Regional High School and Webutuck High School Thursday, May 2, was won by HVRHS with a score of 16-3.

The New Yorkers played their Connecticut counterparts close early on and commanded the lead in the second inning. Errors plagued the Webutuck Warriors as the game went on, while the HVRHS Mountaineers stayed disciplined and finished strong.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mountaineers fall 3-0 to Wamogo

Anthony Foley caught Chase Ciccarelli in a rundown when HVRHS played Wamogo Wednesday, May 1.

Riley Klein

LITCHFIELD — Housatonic Valley Regional High School varsity baseball dropped a 3-0 decision to Wamogo Regional High School Wednesday, May 1.

The Warriors kept errors to a minimum and held the Mountaineers scoreless through seven innings. HVRHS freshman pitcher Chris Race started the game strong with no hits through the first three innings, but hiccups in the fourth gave Wamogo a lead that could not be caught.

Keep ReadingShow less
The artist called ransome

‘Migration Collage' by ransome

Alexander Wilburn

If you claim a single sobriquet as your artistic moniker, you’re already in a club with some big names, from Zendaya to Beyoncé to the mysterious Banksy. At Geary, the contemporary art gallery in Millerton founded by New Yorkers Jack Geary and Dolly Bross Geary, a new installation and painting exhibition titled “The Bitter and the Sweet” showcases the work of the artist known only as ransome — all lowercase, like the nom de plume of the late Black American social critic bell hooks.

Currently based in Rhinebeck, N.Y., ransome’s work looks farther South and farther back — to The Great Migration, when Jim Crow laws, racial segregation, and the public violence of lynching paved the way for over six million Black Americans to seek haven in northern cities, particularly New York urban areas, like Brooklyn and Baltimore. The Great Migration took place from the turn of the 20th century up through the 1970s, and ransome’s own life is a reflection of the final wave — born in North Carolina, he found a new home in his youth in New Jersey.

Keep ReadingShow less
Four Brothers ready for summer season

Hospitality, ease of living and just plain fun are rolled into one for those who are intrigued by the leisure-time Caravana experience at the family-owned Four Brothers Drive-in in Amenia. John Stefanopoulos, pictured above, highlights fun possibilities offered by Hotel Caravana.

Leila Hawken

The month-long process of unwrapping and preparing the various features at the Four Brothers Drive-In is nearing completion, and the imaginative recreational destination will be ready to open for the season on Friday, May 10.

The drive-in theater is already open, as is the Snack Shack, and the rest of the recreational features are activating one by one, soon to be offering maximum fun for the whole family.

Keep ReadingShow less