Richard Cloke

It was with considerable dismay that I read the obituary ( Oct 15) of Valley resident Richard Cloke, a veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1938. Cloke was a small fish caught in the FBI’s and J. Edgar Hoover’s net of Americans unjustly accused of “leftist” activities. Hoover’s unconstitutional and irrational vendetta also included such notables as Charlie Chaplin, Eartha Kitt, musician Larry Adler and Martin Luther King, among scores of others.

As we know in hindsight, the Spanish Civil War was the precursor of World War II, wherein the Nazis and the Fascists of Germany and Italy were able to overthrow the democratically elected civilian government of Spain, which replaced the monarchy of Juan Carlos. Yes, the duly elected Republican government was assisted in its efforts to stay alive by the Russian regime (gasp!), the Communist hordes. Spain’s new Republican parliament had declared an end to the Catholic church’s state-sponsored religion, just as the Russians had done in overthrowing the czar. This, of course, was anathema to the church, and no action was barred in trying to protect its power and properties. The overthrow of the new democracy became a cause celebre for William Randolph Hearst and Pope Pius, the same pope who later would hear or see no evil in the Nazi reign of terror, let alone excommunicate Hitler and his cohorts for their vile and inhumane deeds.

Cloke and his comrades-in-arms were the true heroes of democracy, just as Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry and Abraham Lincoln were. Cloke’s children and grandchildren have a lot to be proud of in their dad’s legacy.

ROBERT E. GREEN, Sherman Oaks