Pitzer, John Charles. b. January 8, 1918 Hallet, Oklahoma (August 11, 1911); Father Roland G. Pitzer, mother W. Florence Tidrow Pitzer; Attended Classen High School in Oklahoma City; Single; Seaman; Received Passport# 449057 on January 23, 1937 which listed his address as 1400 1⁄2 Northwest 15th Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Sailed July 3, 1937 aboard the Berengaria; Arrived in Spain via Setcases on July 18, 1937; Served with the Albacete Auto Park; Stated in an article on his return that he drove an ambulance for the 11th BDE and helped plant mine fields and was being treated in a Barcelona hospital when he deserted, wounded in left leg; Arrived in Le Havre, France with Paul Sanderson who was also from Oklahoma; Returned to the US on May 21, 1938 aboard the President Roosevelt; WWII Co. D, 309th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Rank Tech 4, received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart, joined December 9, 1941; d. March 12, 2002 in Oaxaca, Mexico, buried in Memorial Park Cemetery, Oklahoma; Wife Julia Irene Ball Pitzer.

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Sources: Sail; Scope of Soviet Activity; Figueres List; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 564, ll. 11 (ver ar gen can); Opis 6, Delo 917, ll. 9, Fiche S (SIM 1939 indicates deserter); L-W Tree Ancestry; Find-a-Grave# 19771373. Code A

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Photograph: John Pitzer. Photograph clipping Oklahoma City, OK Times, May 11, 1938.