Illustration by Matt Rota.

On Memorial Day, we honor the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and volunteer soldier Delmer Berg—its last survivor has died.

2,800 Americans risked death to battle the forces of Fascism in the Spanish Civil War[1] (1936-1939). More than 700 Americans were killed during the war. They were selfless; they were brave. They put personal safety aside for Spain, for her citizens to live in freedom and to thrive on Spanish soil.

In the early 1930s, free elections created a new Spanish Republic. Many citizens believed that Democracy and modernity would spread increasing freedom, equality and prosperity across their land at long last. The old order, with a great deal of military might, saw things differently. They held on to the primacy of the old ways. Four insurgent generals had the clout to bring back the heavy hand of government, and they did it in the form of Fascism. Democracy was crushed and swept out of Spain before the blush had faded from its long-awaited birth.

It’s one thing to be drafted for military service and to answer the call. Society’s sentiment echoes the government’s drum beat. The patriotic, the young, the honor-bound—some who need a job, some with a family history of military service, some whose only thought is to support their country—they answer the calls to war that seldom go unanswered.

Americans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade took up arms on an altogether different basis. Spain had just installed their first democratically elected leaders in a long time. For centuries, Spain had been ruled in accord with the ancient pillars of nobility, religion and monarchy. These standards were not always kind to the poor and working classes in Spain. And so the Americans, 2,800 of them, followed their hearts to Spain.[2] They were not drafted. Their government did not tell them to go. They were not promised high pay or healthy living. They saw Mussolini in Italy. They saw Hitler in Germany. And now there was Franco in Spain. They did not like bully-boy dictators oppressing people who had voted for freedom. They did not want one more country in Europe to be forced under the heel of Fascism. They could not stand by and let the Fascists destroy the freedom of workers—workers who were just like them. So they went. Of free will and compassion, they went. They joined with the rebels who called themselves Republicans. Like Abraham Lincoln, they believed in freedom and fair treatment for all people.

On February 28, 2016, the last known survivor of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Delmer Berg, died at the age of 100.[3] The son of a first-generation Ukrainian immigrant, Mr. Berg was born and died in California. He was raised in Oregon where he briefly trained in the National Guard before leaving for Spain. He carried shrapnel from an Italian bomber in his liver for the rest of his life. After his year in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, he served three-years in the Pacific theater during World War II. He was a union member, a member of the NAACP and a communist. For years, he was hounded by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Delmer Berg worked his whole life to make things better for others. In 2014, he said, “I think staying politically active keeps me alive, too. It fills my life. I never slowed down – I’m right in the middle of things yet.”

Senator John McCain published and Op Ed[4] eulogizing Delmer Berg and his fellow American volunteers. These are some of Senator McCain’s words to honor Delmer Berg:

“Mr. Berg went to Spain when he was a very young man. He fought in some of the biggest and most consequential battles of the war. He sustained wounds. He watched friends die. He knew he had ransomed his life to a lost cause, for a people who were strangers to him, but to whom he felt an obligation, and he did not quit on them. Then he came home, started a cement and stonemasonry business and fought for the things he believed in for the rest of his long life…. He didn’t need to know for whom the bell tolls. He knew it tolled for him. And I salute him. Rest in peace.”

Senator McCain’s kind words for Delmer Berg, a life-long communist and a renowned activist in the Labor Movement, say much about the Senator—as well as the last survivor of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

Images: Matt Rota’s artwork, shared with his gracious permission.  (Please visit Matt’s website, listed below),[5] and photo of Delmer Berg (1915-2016)—by Phil Schermeister, courtesy of Friends & Neighbors Magazine, Sonora, CA[6] (online obituary by Sebastian Faber, 3/2/16)

[1] See: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/spanish-civil-war-breaks-out and http://history-world.org/spanish_civil_war.htm and http://www.spainthenandnow.com/spanish-history/default_4.aspx
[2] See: http://www.democracynow.org/2016/3/31/spain_in_our_hearts_adam_hochschilds
[3] See: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/03/us/delmer-berg-last-survivor-of-abraham-lincoln-brigade-dies-at-100.html?_r=0
[4] See: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/25/opinion/john-mccain-salute-to-a-communist.html
[5] See artist Matt Rota’s website: http://mattrotasartnews.tumblr.com/
[6] See: http://www.albavolunteer.org/2016/03/delmer-berg-last-surviving-abraham-lincoln-brigade-veteran-dies-at-100/ “The Volunteer” Founded by the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.