Yankee Fighter: The Story Of An American In The Free French Foreign Legion / John F. Hasey, Joseph F. Dinneen

Lieutenant John F. Hasey was the first American citizen to shed his blood to free France from the oppression of the Nazi Regime.

For his actions he became the first American to receive France’s highest World War II honor and become a Companion of the Ordre de la Libération.

But why was Hasey fighting for France and why was he spilling his blood for the cause of the French people?

John F. Hasey’s remarkable memoir Yankee Figher is a brilliant account of his life in Europe in the late 1930s and through the beginning of the Second World War.

Yet, Hasey’s first taste of conflict was not during that terrible global war, as in 1939 he joined the Iroquois Ambulance Corps, with other young Americans, to assist the Finns during the Russo-Finnish War.

When Hitler’s forces launched their attacks upon Western Europe Hasey immediately signed up with De Gaulle’s Free French Forces and headed to the Middle East to fight for France.

The value of his contribution to France’s war effort can be demonstrated in these comments from his citations:
“He has the qualities of a man, of a soldier, and of a leader. He has won a place in the hearts of his comrades. Loved and respected by them, as well as by his leaders, Lieutenant John Hasey is the perfect type of foreigner, for whom the love of France is not vain words.”

“In the Battle of the Enghiahat … his Captain and First Lieutenant being wounded, he remained the only officer valid. His absolute indifference to danger inspired and galvanized his men.”

“During the siege of Massawa, he led his platoon with magnificent bravery in an assault upon enemy positions, which he captured along with a large number of prisoners.”

This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the fascinating story of one man’s fight to preserve freedom in the early years of the Second World War and the much less well known Russo-Finnish War.

“A young American reports on his part, as ambulance man and then as a fighter for de Gaulle, in the campaigns of Finland, Ethiopia and Syria. An unpretentious yet revealing book.” Foreign Affairs

After the events of Yankee Fighter: The Story of an American in the Free French Foreign Legion John F. Hasey worked as a liaison between de Gaulle and Eisenhower. In August 1943, he became an aide-de-camp on the staff of General Marie Pierre Koenig, and remained with Koenig during his term as military Governor of Paris, August 1944. After the war he worked for the CIA and passed away in 2005. Joseph F. Dinneen was co-author of the book and worked as a journalist for the Boston Globe, he passed away in 1964. Yankee Fighter: The Story of an American in the Free French Foreign Legion was first published in 1942.

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