September 21, 2009

Today in the ALBA, I read the letters of Leo and Joseph Gordon, two American brothers who fought in the Abraham Lincoln Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. By reading their letters, I learned about their participation in the war and, more importantly, I learned about what that participation meant to them personally.

In fact, Leo Gordon confesses to his friend Gus in one letter: "I can't tell you anything about the war that you don't know. In fact, you are in a better position to get this information than I am." I feel as though Leo might as well have been speaking to me. In his letters, I learn, as his friend Gus learned, about his psychological and emotional responses to war, rather than simply the facts. In one letter Leo wrote to his cousin Gus, the soldier tells his friend to say hello to one of his comrades who recently returned home. Leo writes: “He might remember me- modest little me.” Statements like these remind me as I read the letter that the author bears the psychological burdens of war. He could die at any moment and naturally tries to appease his ego by seeking human love, respect, and recognition. He tells Gus that he has to walk miles to get water and asks his family on Staten Island to “appreciate the water a little more for [his] sake.”

Despite this occasional forlornness, Leo does not reveal any regret or contempt for his duty. On the contrary, he is extremely dedicated to and even inspired by the Republican cause. He passionately describes his experiences with the Spanish people and optimistically asserts that “before long, Spain may be the quietest spot on the globe.” This passionate dedication to the cause undoubtedly dominates over the hardships which Leo recounts to his cousin Gus of lice, malnutrition, and death. Leo Gordon seems to be one of the disciplined and dedicated soldiers described in Peter Carroll’s The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

Leo’s brother, Joe, seems to be even more politically driven than his brother. He was one of the soldiers in the first volunteer group that went to Spain and he was one of the wounded soldiers that returned to Spain after the Great Retreats to fight in the Ebro offensive. From his letters recounting political fights with the California State Federation of Labor, it is clear that Joe is a passionate Communist. In fact, he signs all of his letters “Comradely Yours.” Therefore, his story reflects the accounts in Carroll’s The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade that the Communists were predominant and crucial driving forces in the fight against fascism. Joe writes as passionately about the progress of the modern Spanish army as he does about labor law disputes in California.

I have more to read and to learn on these two soldiers. I look forward to getting to know all of them better through their personal thoughts and accounts. Through such intimate means, I hope I really begin to understand the human phenomenon called the Abraham Lincolns Brigade.