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William Alexander Morgan

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William Alexander Morgan (19 April 1928 – 11 March 1961) was a United States citizen who fought in the Cuban Revolution.[1] He was one of only two foreign nationals to hold the rank of Comandante in the revolutionary forces.

Upbringing

Morgan was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Alexander Morgan and German American Loretta Morgan (née Ruderth).[2] Morgan spent most of his life in Toledo, where he was often in trouble with the law. [3] He joined the Army at the close of World War II and was stationed in Japan. He was court-martialed in 1948.[4]

He is said to have been skilled with firearms and was rumored to have been a Central Intelligence Agency operative, though there are no public records or witness interviews to support the claim.[5]

Cuban Revolution

Morgan went to Cuba in 1957.[6] He was opposed to the Batista dictatorship and eventually led a guerrilla force of the Second National Front of the Escambray[7] that operated against Batista's soldiers in the Escambray Mountains in central Cuba.[8]

In December 1958, Che Guevara appeared at the head of a column of troops. He had joined forces with Morgan's group and the Revolutionary Directorate guerrillas of the Escambray mountains. Together they captured the city of Santa Clara on 31 December. Twelve hours later, Batista fled from Cuba, as the revolution had succeeded. Morgan and his men occupied the city of Cienfuegos on 1–2 January 1959.[9]

In August 1959, Morgan helped to foil a coup attempt orchestrated by the Dominican Republic's dictator Rafael Trujillo by pretending to cooperate and then betraying the plot to Fidel Castro.

It is sometimes claimed that Morgan orchestrated the massive explosion of the French arms ship La Coubre,[10] but there is no evidence to support this.

Post-revolution and death

Throughout the struggle against Batista, Morgan had been vocal about his anti-communist beliefs. When asked during interviews about Castro's political beliefs and where the new Cuban government was leaning, he remained firm in his belief that Castro was not a communist and that Cuba would return to capitalist parliamentary democracy.

As Castro began to reveal his leanings towards socialism, however, Morgan became distressed. So were other members of the SFNE (Segundo Frente Nacional de Escambray), who believed in a democratic and capitalist Cuba.

Morgan was arrested in October 1960 and charged with plotting to join and lead the counter-revolutionaries who were active in the Escambrays.

The court also tried Morgan's wife in absentia, finding her guilty of co-conspiracy and sentencing her to 30 years in prison.[11]

William Alexander Morgan was shot to death by a firing squad on 11 March 1961. He was 32 years old. Two months later, on 1 May 1961, Castro declared Cuba to be a socialist nation.[12]

Personal Life and Family

While serving in the U.S. Army, Morgan was briefly married to Darlene Edgerton in 1947. They divorced after a year and a half. He then fathered a son with a German-Japanese hostess named Setsuko Takeda while live in Japan. In 1955 Morgan married Ellen May Bethel. They had two children, Ann and Bill.[13]

Morgan married a Cuban, Olga Maria Rodriguez Farinas, who was also a revolutionary and together they had two daughters.[14] Olga Morgan was arrested and imprisoned for 12 years. She left for the United States during the Mariel boatlift. In a series of interviews with the Toledo Blade in 2002, Morgan's widow broke her silence of 40 years, admitting that she and her husband had begun running guns to anti-Castro guerrillas because he was disenchanted by Castro's pro-Soviet leanings. She also said she wanted Morgan's U.S. citizenship restored and his remains returned to the United States for reburial.[15] The newspaper stories prompted two Democratic members of the United States House of Representatives, Charlie Rangel and Marcy Kaptur, to travel to Cuba in April 2002 to meet Fidel Castro and ask him to return Morgan's body and Castro agreed.[16]

In April 2007, the US State Department, acting at the behest of Morgan's widow, declared that Morgan's US citizenship was effectively restored, nearly 50 years after the government stripped him of his rights in 1959 for serving in a foreign country's military.[17]

References

  1. ^ "An 'Americano' Revolutionary in Castro's Cuba". National Public Radio. 19 August 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2007. William Morgan was not your typical Cuban Revolutionary. Not only was he an American, but he was also anti-communist. Aran Shetterl, author of The Americano, discusses how and why Morgan's life became entwined with Castro's. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ Grann, David, "The Yankee Comandante", The New Yorker", May 28, 2012
  3. ^ Sallah, Michael, "The Yankee Comandante," The Toledo Blade", March 3-4-5, 2002
  4. ^ Grann, David, "The Yankee Comandante", The New Yorker", May 28, 2012
  5. ^ Sallah, Michael, "The Yankee Comandante," The Toledo Blade", March 3, 2002
  6. ^ Grann, David, "The Yankee Comandante", The New Yorker", May 28, 2012
  7. ^ Grann, David, "The Yankee Comandante", The New Yorker", May 28, 2012
  8. ^ Sallah, Michael, "The Yankee Comandante", The Toledo Blade", March 3, 2002
  9. ^ Miguel A. Faria, Jr., Cuba in Revolution—Escape from a Lost Paradise (2002) p.69
  10. ^ Miami Herald, "Dockworker set ship blast in Havana, American claims". Online at www.latinamericanstudies.org, accessed 19 March 2006
  11. ^ Sallah, Michael, "The Yankee Comandante," The Toledo Blade", March 3-4-5, 2002
  12. ^ "Victorious Castro bans elections". BBC News. 1961. Retrieved 7 February 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  13. ^ Grann, David, "The Yankee Comandante", The New Yorker", May 28, 2012
  14. ^ Sallah, Michael, "The Yankee Comandante," The Toledo Blade", March 3-4-5, 2002
  15. ^ Sallah, Michael, "The Yankee Comandante," The Toledo Blade", March 3-4-5, 2002
  16. ^ Sallah, Michael, "Toledoan May Be Coming Home," The Toledo Blade", Dec. 22, 2002
  17. ^ Driscoll, Amy 2007 (accessed 4-13-07) U.S. reclaims citizen who led Cuban rebel fighters. "The Miami Herald," Friday, April 13, 2007

Bibliography

  • Shetterly, Aran, The Americano: Fighting for Freedom in Castro's Cuba. (Algonquin Books, 2007). ISBN 1-56512-458-8
  • Abella, Alex, The Great American: A Novel. (Simon & Schuster, 2000), ISBN 0-7432-0548-0
  • Michael Sallah, Toledo Blade newspaper, 2002; Amy Driscoll, The Miami Herald, 2007.
  • Faria, Miguel A., Cuba in Revolution—Escape from a Lost Paradise, (Hacienda, 2002), pp. 69, 107. http://www.haciendapub.com. ISBN 0-9641077-3-2

Filmography

"Cuba: Lost in the Shadows," a documentary in which William Morgan plays a key role. [1]



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