Biography
Pylkki, Ragnar. (Rylkki, Rogner); b. October 1, 1916, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Finnish American; Father Gust Pylkki, mother Anna Pylkki; 1 year High school; No prior military service; Single; Laborer and Lumber Jack; CP 1933 (1934); Received Passport# 471563 on August 19, 1937 which listed his address as Box 92A, High Bridge Village, Wisconsin; Sailed September 4, 1937 aboard the Champlain; Arrived in Spain via Massanet on September 16, 1937; Trained in Battalion of Instruction No. 2; Attended the MG School then assigned to XV BDE, Lincoln-Washington BN, MG Co. on November 20, 1937; Transferred November 30, 1937 to XV BDE, Special MG Co.; March 15, 1938 during the first phase of the Retreats Pyllkki attached himself to the Mackenzie-Papineau BN, MG Co.; Rank Soldado; He received a certificate of merit for his performance during the Retreats; Served at Teruel, Seguro de los Banos, Retreats, and Ebro Offensive; WIA April 2, 1938, Gandesa during the Retreats by shrapnel in left arm and left ankle, hospital Mataro April 8, 1938 to July 25, 1938; Returned to the US on December 15, 1938 aboard the Paris; WWII US Navy; Worked as Cheesemaker rose to manage Battle Ground Cheese Factory; d. April 10, 2004, Battle Ground, Washington, buried Evergreen Memorial Gardens, Vancouver, Clark County, Washington; Daughter Debra Aubeuf, Sons James and John; Spoke English and Finnish.
Sources: Sail; Scope of Soviet Activity; Cadre; Figueres List; Pay; RGASPI F. 545, Opis 6, Delo 1021, ll 25; Opis 6, Delo 965, ll. 71; Find-a-Grave# 65053530; Finnish; MPE. Code A
Photographs: Ragnar Pylkki in Spain, RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 965; and Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Photograph Collection; ALBA Photo 15; Series I Photographs 1930s-1990s, Box 2, Folder 101. Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.; and detail from a group photograph taken aboard the Paris, December 1938.
Sources: Sail; Scope of Soviet Activity; Cadre; Figueres List; Pay; RGASPI F. 545, Opis 6, Delo 1021, ll 25; Opis 6, Delo 965, ll. 71; Find-a-Grave# 65053530; Finnish; MPE. Code A
Photographs: Ragnar Pylkki in Spain, RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 965; and Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Photograph Collection; ALBA Photo 15; Series I Photographs 1930s-1990s, Box 2, Folder 101. Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.; and detail from a group photograph taken aboard the Paris, December 1938.