Cuba pledges to return remains of onetime Castro comrade, Kaptur says

By MICHAEL D. SALLAH
BLADE NATIONAL AFFAIRS WRITER

Forty-one years after he was killed by Fidel Castro’s firing squad, William Morgan’s body may be coming home.

Acting on pleas by relatives, Cuban government workers have found what appears to be the grave of the celebrated rebel soldier from Toledo known
as the Yanqui Comandante.

Located in a historic Havana cemetery, the corpse could be released to his Toledo widow, Olga Goodwin, early next year, says U.S. Rep. Marcy
Kaptur (D., Toledo), who met with President Castro in April.

"The government of Cuba tried hard to meet our requests," Miss Kaptur told The Blade. "We are pleased they have honored those promises."

The pledge to send the remains to Toledo ends a nine-month effort by the veteran House member to assist the widow in finding the grave of the man
from Middle America who became a hero during the Cuban revolution.

Miss Kaptur said she initiated talks with the Cuban government after reading about Morgan and his widow’s plight in a three-part series in The Blade
in March.

The stories recapped the controversial life of the soldier of fortune who surprised his family by leaving Toledo in 1957 to join the rebel forces, rising to
major - the highest rank bestowed on a non-Cuban.

He became a noted figure after the revolt was won in 1959 - the subject of international news stories - but was killed two years later after opposing
Castro’s regime in an execution that became a part of modern Cuban history.
 

Details are being discussed between Miss Kaptur’s office and the Cuban Special Interest Section in Washington over the return of the body to Toledo,
where it may be buried in a family plot at Calvary Cemetery.

Morgan’s widow, 66, a Cuban native who came to the United States during the Mariel boatlift in 1980, says she was grateful for the lawmaker’s efforts
but is concerned about the safety of her relatives in Cuba.

"I don’t want problems for my family because of this," said Mrs. Goodwin, who spent 12 years in Cuban prisons after she was accused of supplying guns
and food to anti-Castro rebels.

"I have worries. But I’m hoping that sometime next year, we can bring William back."

Mrs. Goodwin, who has since remarried and lives in West Toledo, met Morgan in the central mountains of Cuba in 1958 during the revolution.

After the war was won, she and her husband moved to Havana, but later opposed the direction of the newly formed Castro government and its relations
with the Soviet Union.

They were both convicted of plotting to overthrow the Communist ruler, with Morgan sentenced to the firing squad on March 11, 1961, and Olga sent to
prison.

His bullet-riddled body was buried in a marble crypt at the Colon Cemetery after a brief service the next morning, say people who attended the burial.

Ten years later, his remains were moved to another part of the cemetery, records show.

After Miss Kaptur’s trip to Havana on April 12, Castro ordered government workers to locate the corpse in the massive 132-year-old graveyard, which is
covered by more than 300,000 tombs.

Steve Katich, an aide to Miss Kaptur, said the Cuban government recently notified the lawmaker’s office that the remains were found in a marked grave.

"We are trying to work out the details about getting it back here," Mr. Katich said, including discussions with the U.S. State Dept.

The Medical College of Ohio has agreed to perform DNA testing on the remains, comparing the genetic samples to those of relatives in Toledo. Mr.
Katich said the Cuban government "feels confident" the corpse belongs to the man who once appeared on Cuban television as a national hero.

"They’ve been very up front with us," said Mr. Katich, adding the Cubans are aware genetic tests will be performed.

The discovery of the grave follows more than a dozen meetings between Miss Kaptur’s office and Cuban diplomats, with discussions ranging from the
U.S. travel ban to the trade embargo.

"It was not an easy task," he said.

Luis Fernandez, a press attache for the Cuban Interest Section in Washington could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Morgan’s sister, Carroll Costain, says the return of her brother’s remains had always been a wish of her mother, Loretta, who died in 1988.

"She talked about it often. It was important to her that he be brought back," said the South Toledo retiree.

Ironically, her mother made a plea to Castro to spare her son’s life, but it was never acknowledged, according to press reports. Efforts by the late
Cardinal Richard Cushing to plead for leniency were also ignored.

The Blade’s series this year, which drew on interviews, public records, and letters written by Morgan, sparked radio debates and publicity in Miami’s
Cuban community, where faded images of Morgan still appear in bookstores and souvenir shops in Little Havana.

Long considered a hero to thousands of exiles, his widow’s request to return Morgan’s body was strongly supported by exile groups.

During the revolution, Morgan led a band of young guerillas, capturing the town of Cienfuegos in one of the last battles.

"Morgan was a real fighter, but more than that, he is still seen as someone who defied Castro, and he paid with his life," said Enrique Encinosa, a Cuban
author who lives in Miami.

One exile leader said the Cuban overtures to return the body shows the Communist government is capable of making humanitarian gestures to
Americans even though Morgan was stripped of his citizenship by the State Department in 1959 for taking part in a foreign insurrection.

"If anything, it’s another step toward dialogue," said Alfredo Duran, a Miami attorney and past president of the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association. "This
shows we can reach common accords and work toward common efforts."

One critic said the government should return the body, instead of creating an atmosphere of "political blackmail."

"The body belongs in the United States anyway," said Mr. Encinosa. "Why is this a favor?"

Miss Kaptur said her visit to Cuba seven months ago opened her eyes "to a new future - one that means a break from the old architecture of the 20th
century - one of isolationism and the Cold War."

During her meeting with Castro - accompanied by Democratic House member Charles Rangel of New York - they discussed trade, the U.S. embargo,
and other issues in a long history of strained relations.

But one of the first topics she raised with the 76-year-old president was the return of Morgan’s body, "and he said he would help," she said, adding that
"we can now help finish what we started."