Fred Paul Keller; U.S. Hero in Spanish Civil War

Fred Paul Keller, 80, American hero of the Spanish Civil War. At the end of the war, Keller as a major was the highest-ranking officer of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, a group of 3,300 American volunteers who went to Spain to fight fascism. Keller twice swam across the Ebro River to save comrades during a retreat before a Nationalist attack. His exploits were chronicled in the New York Herald-Tribune and by his wartime friend Ernest Hemingway. The author used Keller and other brigade leaders in creating characters for his book “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and other works. Keller later joined the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the CIA, and served as a U.S. Army paratrooper during World War II. In civilian life, Keller was an organizer for the United Electrical Workers union. On Tuesday in San Bernardino of accidental burns.