Herman H. Hanneken

Who was Herman H. Hanneken?

Herman Henry Hanneken was a United States Marine Corps officer and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.

Beginning his career as an enlisted man, Hanneken served in the Banana Wars of the 1910s and 1920s. During the United States occupation of Haiti, he assassinated the resistance leader Charlemagne Péralte, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Subsequently granted a commission, Hanneken served in Haiti for several more months and was awarded a Navy Cross for killing another rebel leader. He received a second Navy Cross for his actions during the occupation of Nicaragua in the late 1920s.

After a decade of stateside duty, he served in the Pacific Theater of World War II. During this conflict, he was awarded the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star. He retired in 1948, after a thirty-four-year career, and was promoted in retirement to brigadier general.