Queer Places:
70 Howe St, New Haven, CT 06511
3327 De Lavall Ave, Bronx, NY 10475
Columbia University (Ivy League), 116th St and Broadway, New York, NY 10027
Long Island National Cemetery
East Farmingdale, Suffolk County, New York, USA
William Eric Aalto (born William Oliver Ahlström,[2][3][4] July 30, 1915 – June 11, 1958) was an American soldier and member of Abraham Lincoln Battalion, a unit that volunteered to fight during the Spanish Civil War for the Popular Front.
After World War II, with the help of his disability pension and the G.I. Bill, he returned to further his education, studying poetry at Columbia University. At this time, he published several pieces of his writings in the New Masses.[6] After his betrayal by the OSS Lincoln veterans, Aalto drifted away from contact with the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.[8]
Aalto then travelled to Europe, where he met the poet
W.H. Auden. Though sharing the company of other poets, Aalto now wrote little and tended towards alcoholism, frequently becoming violent.[6] Toward the end of his life, he was poet
James Schuyler's lover, and features in the latter's poem Dining Out with Doug and Frank.[9]
William Eric Aalto, of Finnish extraction, was born in the Bronx, New York on July 30, 1915. His mother,
Elsa Johanna Aalto, a militant member of the Finnish Communist Party, had fled to the United States due to her radical political beliefs. She enrolled in the local communist party, educating her son with Marxist ideology. After leaving school, he worked as a truck driver and was a member of the Young Communist League.[5]
Aalto arrived in Spain on February 17, 1937,[5] joining the other
International Brigades at Albacete. In March 1937 he joined the Spanish
Communist Party. During the war, he volunteered for dangerous guerrilla
operations which frequently required him to work behind enemy lines for up to
weeks at a time. Working with International brigaders, Alex Kunslich and
Irving Goff, Aalto was trained by Soviet instructors in the use of
pressure-sensitive explosives to destroy railroad tracks, bridges and power
lines. One of their objectives was the destruction of the main supply bridge
spanning the Albarracín River. The operation may have been the inspiration for
Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls.[6] At the end of 1937, Aalto
took part in the Battle of Teruel, working behind enemy lines again with
Kunslich, Goff and Spanish guerrillas.[6] On May 23, 1938, Aalto, now a
lieutenant, led the successful amphibious operation at Carchuna, Motril on the
southern coast of Spain, which resulted in the rescue of 300 Republican
prisoners held in the Fort of Carchuna. This raid constitutes the only
operation of its kind ever undertaken by the Spanish army.[7] He was later
promoted to captain on June 5.[1] In September 1938, with a Republican defeat
in sight, the Abraham Lincoln Battalion was withdrawn from the front line and
shortly afterwards disbanded. William Aalto returned to the United States.
During his time in Spain, Aalto wrote: "A soldier who is politically conscious
that he is right and who has a feeling of community with his society... will
do his job well."[6]
In 1941, Aalto's former comrade-in-arms, Irving Goff, recommended him for
recruitment to the Office of Strategic Services. At this time, Aalto confessed
to Goff that he was a homosexual. Goff and other OSS Lincoln veterans reported
the fact to the organization's head, General William Donovan, requesting for
him to be removed from their team.[6] In 1942, Aalto was transferred to a
training camp at Camp Ritchie, Maryland.[8] In September 1943, while training
soldiers in demolition work, Aalto saw someone drop a live grenade and lunged
for it. Before he could throw it away, the bomb exploded, severing his arm at
the wrist.[6]
William Aalto died of leukemia in June 1958, and was buried in Long Island National Cemetery.
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