machine gunner that a battalion political commissar. And 
if I must be the latter, at least I'm going to be a commissar 
who's a damn good machine gun operator.

I think I mentioned to you in a previous letter the swell 
French commissar with whom I'd been working. He was 
battalion commander of the French battalion "Fevrier" at 
the time when his battalion commandant and the two 
company commanders were killed, and took over the mili-
tary leadership of the whole battalion until the battle was 
over. Later he got it in the head in a charge in which he 
was fifty meters ahead of the nearest man. Some of his com-
rades from that battalion have told me that even as he 
passed out he waved them forward. Two of the guys who 
went out into no-man's land afterwards to bring him in 
were killed. Anyway, he is a real swell guy and we became 
great friends while working together for a few weeks. He 
was not around at the time I was called over to this job, but 
as soon as he found out where I was he hopped his motor-
cycle and came tearing over to find out what he could do 
to help me get the work going.

Joe

18.

Albacete, June 14 

Dearest love, 

Ed Flaherty, brother of the Charley Flaherty I have pre-
viously written about, was here tonight. He is commander 
of one company of the Lincoln Battalion, which finally 
came out of the lines the other day for a real rest. Sam

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