Virginia Hall
Born in Maryland, April 6, 1906, Virginia Hall had a unique talent for foreign language, and by the year 1931 was staffed at Poland’s American Embassy. After working in several other Slavic countries, Hall received an injury to her leg that resulted in amputation. At the time, the United States had regulation against the employment of any individual with missing limbs. Therefore, despite her best intentions, Hall resigned in 1939. When World War II began, Hall temporarily enlisted in a medical service in France until Germany’s invasion where she retreated to Great Britain (Simkin).
Upon her arrival, Hall took a new job working in the US embassy. Eventually she was recruited by the British government and took a job as a British intelligence agent. Her undertaking as a newly-minted agent was to promote the formation of allied networks of resistance in Vichy, France. Even though Halls was eventually discovered and expedited out of France, she went out to continue to build the allied movement back in Britain. Many of her accomplishments centered around her work in gathering intelligence, and in 1945 Halls was given the Distinguished Service Cross by President Truman. After returning to the United States, Halls spent the vast majority of her time working for the United States Central Intelligence Agency (Simkin). By: RDO |
Denise Jacobs
Denise Jacobs was a member of the French Resistance. She was born in 1924 in Nice, Italy. Jacobs helped Jews seeking refuge in Italy stay safe and find places to hide. Later, Jacobs joined the French Resistance and moved to Lyon. By August of 1943, Jacobs was working for the resistance full time. About a year later, she was caught and sent to Ravensbruck where she survived the war. After the war ended, the Medal of Resistance was given to Denise Jacobs for her bravery and good work (Simkin, “Denise Jacobs”).
By: SJL
By: SJL