The Toledo Blade
October 22, 1960.
Adventurer Who
Gave Up U.S. Citizenship Suspected Of Aiding Anti-Castro Rebels
HAVANA, Oct. 22 (AP)—The Cuban army yesterday announced the arrest of Maj. William Morgan, an adventurer from Toledo, who lost his U.S. citizenship for serving in Fidel Castro’s revolutionary forces.
An army communiqué said Major Morgan and Maj. Jesus Carreras are under investigation on suspicion of having aided Escambray Mountain insurgents “at the direction of foreign interests.”
Major Morgan came to Cuba in the early days of Mr. Castro’s revolution. He became one of the leaders of a second revolutionary front established in the Escambray-Las-Villas region. The area now is the scene of anti-Castro activity.
Major Morgan joined Mr. Castro in 1957 and led guerilla fighters known as the “Tigers of Espesura” in 15 battles against forces of dictator Fulgencio Batista.
The 31-year-old Major Morgan gained further prominence in August, 1959, when he posed as an anti-Castro leader and baited a trap that led to the arrest of several hundred Cubans and a plane load of Castro enemies from the Dominican Republic.
During the affair, Major Morgan said he went to Miami and received thousands of dollars from representatives of the Dominican Republic.
Earlier this year, Major Morgan dropped his army work to direct an agricultural project centering on the raising of giant frogs for export to the United States and other markets.
Reports have been current for several days that Major Morgan either was under arrest or had defected to work with an underground movement.
A Cuban military court yesterday sentenced U.S. pilot Leslie Bradley, formerly of Minneapolis to 10 years imprisonment on charges of participating in a plot against the Castro regime.
Major Morgan left Toledo just before Christmas, 1957, to join the Castro forces in Cuba. He attended elementary and high school here. He served enlistments in the U.S. Merchant Marine and U.S. Army.