Oderaka, William H..

Biography

Oderaka, William H. (Bill); b. February 10, 1911, Rowno, Poland; Russian-Ukrainian American; Father Harry Oderaka (1885-?), mother Fannie Oderaka (1889-?); Grammar School education; Prior service in the US Army National Guard; Single; Laborer; CP 1934; Received Passport# 365377 on February 4, 1937 which listed his address as 1125 North Homan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois; Sailed February 17, 1937 aboard the President Roosevelt; Arrived in Spain on March 7, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Dimitroff BN, Co. 1, Machine-gunner; Later with the Commisariat and as a BDE Photographer; Rank Sargento; Served at Brunete; WIA July 6, 1937 in neck and right shoulder blade, Hospital Madrid No. 16 from July 8 to July 21, 1937; Last unit (June 1938) XV BDE, Estado Mayor, Observations; Rank Cabo; Ebro Offensive; Returned to the US on December 15, 1938 aboard the Paris; WWII US Army, was a guard for General Eisenhower; d. March 11, 1966, Cook County, Illinois, buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Elmhurst Illinois; Spoke Russian and English.
Siblings: brother John Oderaka (1925-?), sister Sophie Oderaka (1928-?).
Sources: Sail; Scope of Soviet Activity; Cadre; Pay; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 957, ll. 34-38; L-W Tree Ancestry.
Photograph:William Oderaka, Lab assistant in Photo Department, December 1937. The 15th International Brigade Photographic Unit Photograph Collection; ALBA Photo 11; ALBA Photo number 11-0912. Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.