Biography

Urbina, César (Colón González; Gonzalo); b. May 28, 1898 (1902), Morovis, Puerto Rico, To NYC circa 1923; Puerto Rican; POW; Father Jesús Colón, Mother Rosa González, Sister Gloria Jaime; Hotel and Restaurant Worker; Domicile 18 Clinton Street, Brooklyn, New York; Certificate of identity issued on his return; Sailed January 1938 aboard the Lafayette as a stowaway; Arrived in Spain on February 19, 1938; Sent to the front as a replacement on March 13, 1938; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln-Washington BN then to the British BN; Rank Soldado but served as a Platoon Leader; Reported MIA Retreats, Listed MIA Caspe-Belchite March 10-17, 1938; Captured on March 31, 1938 when the BN was ambushed; Imprisoned at San Pedro de Cardeña; Exchanged April 22, 1939; Returned to the US on May 20, 1939 aboard the President Roosevelt, his address was 18 Clinton Street, Brooklyn; d. September 1976, Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

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Sources: Scope of Soviet Activity; BN 58 Retreats; USSDA (under Colon, Gonzalvo) 2:0458, 53:0378; RGASPI, Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 36; Opis 2, Delo 127;Opis 6, Delo 1004, ll. 65, ver arch gen amer; José Ortiz Carrión and Torres Rivera, Voluntarios de la Libertad, Puertorriqueños en Defensa de la República Española 1936-1939. Code A