The Ultimate Bad Luck
Last month was the hundredth birthday of Manuel Otero Martínez. He hailed from the village of Catasueiro, in Freixo, near Serra de Outes. From there he set out to Santander in search of a steady job. He found it in the shipyards, where he worked as a naval mechanic. Favored with a job, he was misfavored by fortune, which decreed the Spanish Civil War, and that he be drafted into the army of the Republic.
He ended up at the Batalla de Brunete near Madrid. There he was wounded, captured, and sent as a prisoner of war to Barcelona. His family back in Galicia worked for his release; his brother was in Franco's army. Manuel was eventually sent back to Catasueiro, but because he had fought on the Republican side was ostracized from village society and had difficulty finding a job. So he decided to emigrate. He wound up in New York City, where after working at various jobs as a mechanic, he set up his own garage. But he had difficulties because he was the citizen of a country with a rebellious government that was supported by Hitler. So he decided to become a U.S. citizen.
To go through normal channels would have taken five years of unbroken residency and the application. So he went through the short cut. He joined the U.S. Army. From the date of joining, six months later he would be granted citizenship, serve his allotted time, and go back to civilian life. But Fate intervened again. Three days after joining, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States was suddenly at war with Japan, Germany, and Italy. Manuel was now in for the duration.
He did basic training and was sent to England, where he was incorporated into the 16th regiment of the 1st Infantry Division, known as the Big Red One. There he underwent training for a secret operation that included swimming in ice cold water. On June 6th, 1944, he and his regiment invaded Omaha Beach, one of the most defended and dangerous disembarkment points in Normandy. The tide was very low and the distance to cover at the dunes too long. Among the first to disembark, Manuel Otero Martínez was killed there, along with over half his regiment.
The only Spaniard to die at Normandy was buried in the American cemetery at Colville-sur-Mer, along with six thousand other soldiers whose lives had been destroyed. After the war, his father did all he could to bring him back home. He was granted his wish. On 18th September, 1948, his flag-covered coffin was buried in the parish cemetery of Freixo. He was accompanied by American brothers-in-arms and his family. He had been twenty-eight years old when he died. Why his family had been allowed to bring him home was a mystery, but it might be attributed to Franco's understanding of the shift of power, and trying to make the Allies include Spain in the Marshall Plan.
Seventy-two years ago thousands of young men, each with his own dream of life, died on those beaches. The greedy ultra-nationalism they fought against was beaten back, but it is now reappearing under many guises in too many places. And the idea of making war simply as a means to profit was born in that war so many years ago. Now it is thriving in many different parts of the world. The ones that lose are always those used as fodder to increment the dividends of the vultures that feed off the dead. The vultures grow fatter as they grow richer and hungrier. The misguided to whom they lie simply die as heroes to the bottom line.
He ended up at the Batalla de Brunete near Madrid. There he was wounded, captured, and sent as a prisoner of war to Barcelona. His family back in Galicia worked for his release; his brother was in Franco's army. Manuel was eventually sent back to Catasueiro, but because he had fought on the Republican side was ostracized from village society and had difficulty finding a job. So he decided to emigrate. He wound up in New York City, where after working at various jobs as a mechanic, he set up his own garage. But he had difficulties because he was the citizen of a country with a rebellious government that was supported by Hitler. So he decided to become a U.S. citizen.
To go through normal channels would have taken five years of unbroken residency and the application. So he went through the short cut. He joined the U.S. Army. From the date of joining, six months later he would be granted citizenship, serve his allotted time, and go back to civilian life. But Fate intervened again. Three days after joining, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States was suddenly at war with Japan, Germany, and Italy. Manuel was now in for the duration.
He did basic training and was sent to England, where he was incorporated into the 16th regiment of the 1st Infantry Division, known as the Big Red One. There he underwent training for a secret operation that included swimming in ice cold water. On June 6th, 1944, he and his regiment invaded Omaha Beach, one of the most defended and dangerous disembarkment points in Normandy. The tide was very low and the distance to cover at the dunes too long. Among the first to disembark, Manuel Otero Martínez was killed there, along with over half his regiment.
The only Spaniard to die at Normandy was buried in the American cemetery at Colville-sur-Mer, along with six thousand other soldiers whose lives had been destroyed. After the war, his father did all he could to bring him back home. He was granted his wish. On 18th September, 1948, his flag-covered coffin was buried in the parish cemetery of Freixo. He was accompanied by American brothers-in-arms and his family. He had been twenty-eight years old when he died. Why his family had been allowed to bring him home was a mystery, but it might be attributed to Franco's understanding of the shift of power, and trying to make the Allies include Spain in the Marshall Plan.
Seventy-two years ago thousands of young men, each with his own dream of life, died on those beaches. The greedy ultra-nationalism they fought against was beaten back, but it is now reappearing under many guises in too many places. And the idea of making war simply as a means to profit was born in that war so many years ago. Now it is thriving in many different parts of the world. The ones that lose are always those used as fodder to increment the dividends of the vultures that feed off the dead. The vultures grow fatter as they grow richer and hungrier. The misguided to whom they lie simply die as heroes to the bottom line.
We were just in Normandy, different war museums, etc. Painful the waste.
ReplyDeleteYour blog reminded me of this story. Too many young lives lost. So much potential.
ReplyDelete