The US Flag To Flutter Again On Friday In Cuba

By R. Siva Kumar - 13 Aug '15 15:25PM

Next Friday, the US flag will go up again in Cuba, restoring diplomatic relations again after 55 years, according to miamiherald. While Cuba has raised its flag in the US, the American flag will go up this week.

The Secretary of State, John Kerry, will re-establish diplomatic relations between the two countries. Again and at last, the flag will go up.

Special guests will be the three marines who lowered the flag on January 4, 1961--- James Tracy, Mike East and Larry Morris. The three American Marines had been assigned to Havana's embassy guard force and turned their attention to the important task of lowering the American flag here.

"Mr. Tracy saluted the flag as Larry Morris pulled the halyard. Once down, Mike East grabbed the tips of the flag as his two comrades stepped in to help fold it. The Cubans gave them polite applause as the men headed back into the building.," a according to nytimes.

"Anytime you take down the flag for the last time, it's symbolic," Mr. Tracy, 78, said.

"We're doing something that not too many Marines have ever done," Mr. Morris, 75, said. "It's thrilling."

In the early 1960s, Havana was a "happy posting for American Marines." The socialistic Fidel Castro government soon began to nationalize American companies after taking power in 1959 and condemned the American policy here. Still, Cubans were never hostile.

"The people did not want to see us go," Mr. Tracy said. "We could do things for them; they could do things for us. We loved them."

But under Eisenhower administration, some exiles began to get training to overthrow Castro. When Eisenhower announced the severing of diplomatic ties, the US was given 48 hours to leave.

Many Cubans marched up to the Presidential palace. "Cuba yes, Yankees no!" they chanted, according to an article from that day in The New York Times. "We will win!"

However, some people were close to tears. "Men and women would come up and say, 'Don't leave, don't leave, we need you,' " Mr. Tracy recalled. "Especially if they were trying to get out of the country."

Soon the Marines and their civilian colleagues walked through the armed milicianas, or female militia who became important symbols of Cuban revolution. The government had blocked out all radio stations, though they could hear one song, "This Land Is Mine," from the 1960 film "Exodus".

Finally, the Marines gave them a fitting reply. "So we pulled out our Fourth of July sparklers and waved goodbye at them," Mr. Tracy said with a chuckle.

It will be back to Cuba with the flag on Friday, then. Again and at last, the flag will go up.