150

Asa Kent Jennings: The Philhellene who rescued Greeks & others from Turkish masascre in Asia Minor

There were a number of people who heroically helped evacuate the Christians from Asia Minor/Turkey following the events of September 1922, but there was probably no bigger hero than Asa Kent Jennings. Standing a little under 5 foot due to a hunchback caused by tuberculosis, Jennings had to bribe, lie and ultimately make empty threats in order to organize ships to help rescue over 250,000 panic stricken refugees from #Turkey. Greece awarded Jennings its highest civilian honor, the Cross of the Order of the Redeemer, and the highest war honor, the medal of Military Merit. Jennings’ story is told in great detail in Lou Ureneck’s book Smyrna: September 1922: The American Mission to Rescue Victims of the 20th Century’s.

First Genocide: http://amzn.to/2fuqOHt