Walter Benjamin Garland
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Walter Benjamin Garland (27 November 1913 – January 1974) was an American soldier, activist, and politician. Garland was a volunteer in the Washington Battalion of the
XV International Brigade The XV International Brigade was one of the International Brigades formed to fight for the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. History The XVth Brigade mustered at Albacete in January 1937. It consisted of English-speaking volunte ...
fighting for
Republican Spain The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII. It was dissol ...
during the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. Following the conclusion of the war, Garland joined
Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...
and ran for office in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
. He later worked alongside
Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for h ...
as a bodyguard. Garland died in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
in 1974.


Early life

Garland was born in 1913 in New York City. He joined the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
in 1931 at the age of eighteen. He served in the army for two years before being discharged in 1935, achieving the rank of Private First-Class. Following his army service he enrolled at
Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...
, where he studied mathematics. He was employed by
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
as an arranger and was attached to the media department producing ''
Your Hit Parade ''Your Hit Parade'' is an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year r ...
'' (sponsored by Lucky Strike Cigarettes.) In 1935 he became a member of Communist Party USA and was active in the
National Negro Congress In African-American history, the National Negro Congress (NNC; 1936–ca. 1946) was an African-American organization formed in 1936 at Howard University as a broadly based coalition organization with the goal of fighting for Black liberation; it ...
.


Military service and later life

The outbreak of the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
in 1936 resulted in many international communist parties sending manpower and financial support to
Republican Spain The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII. It was dissol ...
. Garland, being a staunch
anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...
and member of the American communist movement, volunteered for service in Spain. He sailed for France aboard the ''SS'' ''Champlain'' on 5 January 1937 and from there made his way to Republican lines. Once in Spain he joined what would become the
Abraham Lincoln Battalion The Lincoln Battalion (), the major component of what came to be known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, was the 17th (later the 58th) battalion of the XV International Brigade that fought in the Spanish Civil War. Named after United States Presid ...
, in which he was appointed section commander on account of his previous military experience. Garland was wounded in battle on 27 February during the advance of the 17th International Column on Jarama. During his convalescence, Garland was selected to attend officer training school, and he returned to the front as the commander of a machine gun battalion (dubbed the Washington Battalion.) Garland was wounded for a second time in July 1937 during the Republican defeat at the
Battle of Brunete The Battle of Brunete (6–25 July 1937), fought west of Madrid, was a Republican attempt to alleviate the pressure exerted by the Nationalists on the capital and on the north during the Spanish Civil War. Although initially successful, the R ...
. Following his second wounding, Garland was promoted to captain and given command of the
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Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion The Mackenzie–Papineau Battalion was a Canadian military unit that volunteered to fight with the XV International Brigade on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. Except for France, no other country had a greater proportion of its popu ...
while the formation was in training. In August he collaborated with
Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...
and
Harry Haywood Harry Haywood (February 4, 1898 – January 4, 1985) was an American political activist who was a leading figure in both the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). His goal was to connec ...
to broadcast a radio message to the United States live from Spain with the intent to drum up support for the Republican cause. Garland was ordered to return to the United States in October to raise funding and manpower for the
International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...
. Once he had returned to the United States, Garland began to lobby
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
to lift the armaments ban on Republican Spain. In 1938 he ran as the Communist Party's candidate for the New York 17th Assembly District, an office he would run for again in 1940. Garland continued to be active with the Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and the American Medical Bureau after the defeat of the Republican cause in 1939. In the lead up to the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Garland was monitored by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
, which concluded that Garland was an individual who should be considered dangerous and ''"who in all probability should be interned in event of war"'' on account of his communist activities and service in Spain. Following the
entry Entry may refer to: *Entry, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States *Entry (cards), a term used in trick-taking card-games *Entry (economics), a term in connection with markets *Entry (film), ''Entry'' (film), a 2013 Indian ...
of the United States into World War II, Garland attempted to reenlist in the US Army but was initially denied. He tried again and was accepted into the 731st Military Police Battalion stationed at
Fort Wadsworth Fort Wadsworth is a former United States military installation on Staten Island in New York City, situated on The Narrows which divide New York Bay into Upper and Lower bays, a natural point for defense of the Upper Bay, Manhattan, and beyon ...
on
Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...
. Garland was appointed as an instructor, and taught classes on mortar, machine-gun, and armed scout-car tactics. He also taught map-making and gave lectures on his role in the Brunete campaign. He developed a new gun sight for machine-guns mounted on armed scout cars. Garland was promoted to the rank of
first sergeant First sergeant is typically a senior non-commissioned officer rank, used in many countries. Singapore First sergeant is a Specialist (Singapore), specialist in the Singapore Armed Forces. First sergeants are the most senior of the junior spe ...
, but was not deployed overseas despite repeated requests. Following the end of the war, Garland and several other African-American veterans of the Spanish Civil War formed the United Negro Allied Veterans Association. Garland continued to support communist causes in New York, and frequented the pro-communist Ben Davis Club in
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...
. He also organized efforts for the
International Workers Order The International Workers Order (IWO) was an insurance, mutual benefit and fraternal organization founded in 1930 and disbanded in 1954 as the result of legal action undertaken by the state of New York in 1951 on the grounds that the organization ...
. In 1949 he traveled with
Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for h ...
and acted as his bodyguard. Garland split with the
CPUSA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...
in 1952 (the party was hemorrhaging members at this time, falling from 80,000 in 1946 to 5,000 by 1954) and was expelled from the party that same year. The FBI continued to monitor Garland until his death. Garland died in January 1974 in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garland, Wallitf 1913 births 1976 deaths Abraham Lincoln Brigade members African-American communists Members of the Communist Party USA United States Army soldiers Brooklyn College alumni African Americans in the Spanish Civil War