Gordon, Leo, 1915-1938.

Born Joseph and Leo Mendelowitz in 1914 and 1915, respectively, Joe and Leo Gordon were the sons of Eastern European immigrants, and were raised in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. In 1931, soon after their mother died, Joe left home to find work. He hopped freight trains and hitchhiked his way across the country, landing in San Francisco. Leo soon joined Joe out west. The brothers traveled together, working odd jobs in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana. For a time, Joe had hopes of becoming a professional boxer in New Orleans. Eventually, Joe and Leo went to work for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in Tennessee, Idaho, and Wyoming. It was during this period that the brothers became politically radicalized, and around this time they adopted the last name Gordon (Joe refers to it in a letter as their "red name"). Joe began to organize cannery workers in San Diego, quickly rising to a leadership role in the union. In 1935, he was beaten up by the San Diego Police and kicked out of the city.

In December 1936 when he was 22, Joe Gordon sailed to France and hiked over the Pyrenees into Spain to join the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. He was soon on the front line in the Jarama Valley, where he made a name for himself as a tough and courageous fighter. A sniper shot to the forehead in February 1937 injured him in the eye, but after a short hospitalization Joe rejoined the Lincoln Battalion in the Brunete offensive. He was group leader in the infantry when he was wounded in his leg and sent back to the States to recuperate.

Leo Gordon left for Spain in July or August of 1937, and joined the Canadian Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion. He quickly achieved the rank of lieutenant in command of a machine gun company. Leo fought at Fuentes de Ebro and the battle of Teruel, where he was wounded in the face by shrapnel fragments. In March 1938 he was leading a mission to enable the Republican retreat by thwarting the fascist advance when he was killed in action.

Joe Gordon returned to Spain in June 1938, in part to search for his brother, who had thus far only been reported missing. Joe continued to fight with the International Brigades until they were evacuated from Spain. He returned to the States in December 1938.

Back in New York, Gordon remained politically active as an organizer for the Communist Party, while making his living as a furrier. In 1942, he joined the Merchant Marines. His ship was torpedoed while delivering supplies to the Soviet Union on the Murmansk run, and Joe was killed.

Sources:

From the guide to the Joseph and Leo Gordon Papers, 1931-1939, (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)