OSS Society Commemorates Liberation of the Hotel Ritz


The Office of Strategic Services Society, which celebrates the World War II predecessor to the C.I.A. and the U.S. Special Operations Command, presented its William J. Donovan Award (named in honor of the OSS founder) to former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates at the West End’s Ritz- Carlton Hotel Oct. 27. The occasion commemorated the liberation of the Hotel Ritz in Paris, France, by Ernest Hemingway, Col. David Bruce and a group of French Resistance fighters on Aug. 25, 1944. Upon their arrival at the Hotel Ritz, its manager asked Hemingway what the Ritz could do for them. Hemingway’s response: “How about 73 dry martinis?” At The OSS Society diner, each guest received a martini with an OSS logo etched on it. Sean Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway’s grandson, offered a toast to his father and his uncle, John Hemingway, who served in the OSS.

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