by Sancho de Beurko Association At barely 19 years old, Marie Irigaray Inchauspe arrived in the United States to start a new life. The year was 1904. She was accompanied by her older brother Jean who was 20 at the time. Years later, at least three more siblings—Marie, Jeanne, and Grace—joined them in pursuit of the “American […]
In celebration of Basque Diaspora Day 2025, which on Monday, September 8 in Markina, Bizkaia, will recognize the contribution of pelota to the Diaspora, the authors of this blog publish the previously untold story of the jai-alai player from Eibar, Agustín Guisasola, a World War II veteran with the United States Army. This year, the International […]
Below we publish the chronicle of the latest trip of Dr. Pedro J. Oiarzabal – co-author of this blog and co-principal investigator of “Fighting Basques: Memory of World War II” – to the United States. His trip’s goals were two-fold: to disseminate the nearly-final results of the research, on the tenth anniversary of the projects […]
The Basque diaspora – those Basques that have found themselves for a multitude of reasons living and building lives outside of the Basque Country – have made significant contributions to the continued health and prosperity of Basque culture. Inspired by the motto Zazpiak Bat – the seven are one – the phrase Zortziak Bat has […]
This article was written by Pedro Oiarzabal. Martin, born on July 4, 1925, in Las Arenas, Getxo (Bizkaia), was one of the thousands of children evacuated by the Basque government in June 1937 to escape the aerial bombardments perpetrated by General Francisco Franco’s Italian and German allies against the civilian population. Martin and two younger […]
by Pedro Oiarzabal March 1 marks the first anniversary of the historical resolution that honors, for the first time in the history of the United States, our WWII veterans of Basque origin. The resolution was passed by the Texas House of Representatives, in Austin, thanks to the efforts of Representative Rafael Anchia (HD 103) and […]
Plans are underway to build the first national WWII memorial in the United Sates to honor veterans of Basque descent. Do you know that over 1,600 veterans of Basque origin served in the U.S. Armed Forces during WWII? The time has come to permanently honor and thank all WWII veterans of Basque descent who served […]
On the 5th of December, a small ceremony will take place on the Japanese island of Okinawa in which tribute will be paid to all American veterans of Basque origin who died during World War II (WWII) in the Pacific, with special recognition for those who perished on the island. They were over twenty young […]
The next day, after visiting Munitibar, we spent the day in Bilbo. When I was living in Donostia in 1991-92, Bilbo wasn’t the biggest attraction. It had a reputation for being big and dirty. But, the city has really transformed itself, in part due to the Guggenheim effect. We met up with Pedro Oiarzabal, the […]
For the last three years, I’ve been collaborating with Pedro Oiarzabal, Guillermo Tabernilla, and the Fighting Basques: Basque Memory of the Second World War project, translating their articles from Spanish to English. The Fighting Basques project recognizes the sacrifices and contributions that Basque Americans made during World War II. These were often the children of […]
