geopelia:

fuckyeahlatinamericanhistory:

Cuatro años bajo la media luna (published in English as Four Years Beneath the Crescent), by the Venezuelan Rafael de Nogales Méndez (1879-1936), details his time as a soldier in the Ottoman Army during the First World War and is an early eyewitness account of the Armenian Genocide. The first English-language edition of the book was translated by Muna Lee, the first wife of Luis Muñoz Marín, who would go on to become the first democratically-elected govenor of Puerto Rico in 1949.

De Nogales, a native of the state of Táchira in Venezuela, completed his studies in Europe and took part in several military conflicts around the world, starting with the Spanish-American War in 1898, where he fought against the United States, and Venezuela’s Revolución Libertadora in 1902, where he participated in the failed uprising against president Cipriano Castro. His first foray into military conflict outside of the Americas came with the Russo-Japanese War in 1904.

When the Great War began, de Nogales was able to enlist in the Ottoman Army and was assigned to the Caucasus Front, where he participated in the Siege of Van. After the end of the war, he returned to the American continent and worked with the Nicaraguan revolutionary Augusto César Sandino. Additionally, he spent time living in Alaska and Arizona. De Nogales died in Panama at age 57.

Rafael de Nogales uno de los militares con mayor experiencia de campo del país y quizás el más universal después de Miranda, lastima que es frecuentemente olvidado y la connotación de mercenario es diferente ahora que en aquella época.

(Source: fylatinamericanhistory)