Series III: Combat Personnel: Biographical Files and Correspondence, 1937-1987, inclusive

Series III. Combat Volunteers: Biographical Files and Correspondence, 1937-1985.This series includes correspondence from and biographical material on Spanish Civil War combat volunteers. Although Martin corresponded with volunteers from many countries, the majority of these files document United States volunteers. Like the medical personnel files, these files include accounts of activities in Spain and chronicle the lives of the veterans in their later years. The correspondence and other material here also document the fraternal nature of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB), which provided financial, medical and legal assistance to its members. An example of this can be found in Robert Raven's file, which includes leaflets and a 1937 fundraising appeal on Robert Raven Rehabilitation Committee letterhead requesting aid for Raven who was blinded in Spain. Also notable is VALB correspondence related to the deportation of Carlos Soule Echeveria, a Spanish national who fought with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. (Additional material on veterans and VALB can be found in Series V: General Subject Files).

Among the veterans Martin corresponded with regularly were Edward Lending, David Miller, Steve Nelson, Mark Rauschwald, Irving Weissman and Randall (Pete) Smith, who headed up the veteran's Spanish Civil War Historical Committee. Other correspondents include VALB executive secretary Moe Fishman, Canadian volunteer William Beeching, and author Arthur Landis, with whom Martin had a heated exchange over the publication of his book. Recurring topics include Martin's concerns over finding a suitable repository for the Medical Bureau materials, consideration of whether the veterans should assume stewardship of their papers, and the establishment of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives at Brandeis.