Lucid, John M.

John Michael Lucid (nicknamed Jack) was born in Everett, Washington in 1915. Before joining the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War, Lucid earned his B.A., studying literature, journalism and history. He worked in food canning factories in Mexico and Alaska and as a railway technician, among other jobs. A member of the Newspaper Guild and the Communist Party, Lucid aspired to become a reporter for a left-wing publication. Lucid sailed to France in February 1937 and hiked over the Pyrenees into Spain. After training he was assigned to the British Battalion as an anti-aircraft and anti-tank observer. He saw action in the battles of Ebro and Gandesa, where he was put in charge of a trench-mortar unit, and was hospitalized briefly in March 1937. He returned on the S.S. Paris in December 1938 when the International Brigades were evacuated out of Spain. Lucid joined the U.S. Army in October 1942. Although he wanted to be sent overseas to join a combat unit, for months he was shuffled from U.S. base to U.S. base performing menial tasks. Finally he shipped out to North Africa and fought with the Rangers in Italy, where he won a Silver Star. Lucid died in 1977.