Biography
Rivera y Vázquez, Ferdinand. b. June 10, 1912, Cataño (San Juan), Puerto Rico, To NYC circa 1927; Puerto Rican; POW; Father Miguel Armando Rivera, mother Baltasara Vázquez Collazo; As a child he lived with his family in the Dominican Republic; Elevator Operator; Domicile 626 W 136th Street, NY; During the 1930s he lived in Havana, Cuba, where he sailed to Spain with Cuban volunteers; Arrived in Spain July 1937; Identified as natural from Dominican Republic; Served at the Aragon Offensive, Teruel, The Retreats, and the Ebro Offensive; Captured and was sent to San Pedro de Cardeña; Released April 22, 1939; Returned to the US on May 20, 1939 aboard the President Roosevelt; USSDA papers include a copy of his birth certificate and a photograph; d. February 1, 1996, Miami, Florida.
Siblings: brothers Armando Rivera (1902-?), Louis Rivera (1904-?), Hector Rivera (1908-?), and Joseph Rivera (1919-?).
Sources: USSDA 2:0869, 59:0269; José Alejandro Ortiz Carrión and Teresita Torres Rivera, Voluntarios de la Libertad, Puertorriqueños en Defensa de la República Española 1936-1939; L-W Tree Ancestry. Code A
Siblings: brothers Armando Rivera (1902-?), Louis Rivera (1904-?), Hector Rivera (1908-?), and Joseph Rivera (1919-?).
Sources: USSDA 2:0869, 59:0269; José Alejandro Ortiz Carrión and Teresita Torres Rivera, Voluntarios de la Libertad, Puertorriqueños en Defensa de la República Española 1936-1939; L-W Tree Ancestry. Code A