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VALB: A Brief History
In December 1937, while the war in Spain continued, the first U.S. volunteers who returned from fighting organized a formal group named Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB). The fifty-some veterans elected Paul Burns the first commander. Early activities focused on awakening the public to the issues of the war, seeking to end U.S. non-interventionism, and assisting the wounded and needy volunteers. As returning veterans swelled the ranks, the VALB took strong political stands not only on Spain, but about U.S. policy in World War II. Besides the main office in New York, VALB "Posts" appeared in numerous cities, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago.
After World War II, VALB faced charges of being a Communist-front organization. In 1947, the Attorney General placed VALB on a list of subversive organizations, paving the way for subsequent inquiries by the Subversive Activities Control Board. Although VALB lost its initial appeal to be removed from the list, legal battles that carried as far as the U.S. Supreme Court eventually vindicated the organization. Despite such harassment, the VALB continued to agitate for a republican government in Spain, and assisted needy veterans. The VALB's political position can be followed in the periodical, Volunteer for Liberty.
As political passions eased in the 1970s and 80s, VALB remained involved in supporting various international causes -- sending assistance to victims of the Franco regime in Spain, providing ambulances and medical support to Nicaragua, and offering aid to a children's hospital in Cuba. In 1986, many returned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War in Madrid. Ten years later, the survivors traveled once again to Spain to accept citizenship from the restored Spanish democracy. VALB holds an annual reunion event in San Francisco during the last weekend of February (the anniversary of the battle of Jarama) and in New York City during the last weekend of April. For more information about VALB's history, see Peter Carroll, The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Americans and the Spanish Civil War (Stanford University Press, 1994).
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