Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Ultimate sacrifice made in 1960 Cuba

Our History: Ultimate sacrifice made in 1960 Cuba
John Andrew Prime Columnist 11:14 p.m. CDT March 9, 2015

On at least three occasions, and likely more often, area veterans have
made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the nation even when the
United States was not technically at war.

This was brought to mind recently through an email from reader John
Ridge, a blogger and historian with an interest in north Caddo Parish,
who advised this column of someone who largely has fallen through the
cracks in terms of recognition.

On Oct. 15, 1960, just a few weeks ahead of the historic Nixon-Kennedy
presidential election, and months before the April 1961 Bay of Pigs
debacle, a small group of men with military backgrounds staged a
military raid on Navas Bay in Oriente Province. Several Cubans in the
group were tried and given lengthy prison terms, but three Americans –
Allan Dale Thompson, Anthony Zarba and Robert Fuller – were given a
summary trial by Cuban revolutionary tribunals and executed.

Thompson, a 36-year-old Korean War veteran, was from Mooringsport. As
best can be determined, he was buried in an unmarked grave with Zarba
and Fuller and their bodies remain in Cuba to this day.

"With discussions going on about normalizing relations with Cuba after
50-plus years, perhaps this man's story is worth resurrecting," Ridge
wrote the column. He has put together a blog on Thompson. "I stumbled on
this while researching Mooringsport history but really don't know if any
of his relatives or others who knew him are still around. I would
imagine this was well covered by the Times and Journal at the time of
the incident."

The papers ran articles the day after Thompson's execution, with a
locally taken photo of Thompson's aunt and uncle, Oscar C. and Rachel T.
Corn, who reared him after his mother's death in the late 1920s. The
Corns and the Thompsons were commercial fishermen, and Thompson lived in
Mooringsport and worked with the Corns until 1958, the story said.

Oscar Corn died in October 1964, while Rachel Corn died in February
1990. Thompson's father, John Ruskin Thompson, also a fisherman, died in
January 1967 in Saint Maurice, in Winn Parish.

Allen Dale Thompson, described as a "down-on-his-luck fisherman" and an
"adventurer" in the wire stories the papers ran, had apparently been
working in the Gulf of Mexico and had been left jobless after a wreck,
according to U.S. Consul Harvey Summ, quoted in the stories.

Thompson did not testify in his own defense during the 20-minute trial,
but was defended by Fuller, a one-time Marine and Korean War veteran.
Fuller admitted intent to overthrow the Castro regime but said he
"believed Thompson did not know he was going to a foreign country and
had been deceived by Cubans who organized the expedition."

The Corns appealed to the Cuban government through the Red Cross for the
return of their nephew's body, but their requests were denied.

"Why this had to happen, we will never know," Rachel Corn told The
Times. "We are shocked beyond all words ... grieved beyond endurance."

Some accounts say a fourth American, Anthony Salvard, also was executed,
and one report says writer Norberto Fuentes "recounts a 1987 meeting
during which Fidel and Raúl Castro gloated about having the four
Americans executed."

More recently, at least two other men with Caddo Parish roots were
victims of military actions or terrorism while the country was not
actively engaged in a conflict with the opponent.

In June 1967, James Lupton was a 24-year-old intelligence/communications
specialist on the USS Liberty when it was attacked by Israel jets and
gunboats during the Six-Day War. The attack caused 34 deaths, wounded
another 134 and resulted in a Medal of Honor being awarded to the
vessel's commander. Lupton's body was never recovered, but he is
remembered in cenotaphs at Arlington National Cemetery and Forest Park
Cemetery on St. Vincent Avenue.

In June 1996, Shreveporter Kevin Jerome Johnson, a 36-year-old U.S. Air
Force staff sergeant and HC-130 flight engineer, was one of 19 U.S.
service members killed in the June 1996 terror bombing of the Khobar
Towers in Saudi Arabia. His death his the city hard, especially The
Times, since his sister-in-law, Eleanor Ransburg, was an editor at the
paper. Johnson is buried in Lincoln Memorial Park.

Readers with more information on the fate of Thompson's remains or
surviving family in Caddo Parish, or of other peacetime military
casualties whose names and fates need to be remembered, should contact
this column.

Reader requests: Readers have asked about the dates of the openings of
several city parks, notably Betty-Virginia Park in South Highlands,
Columbia Park in the Highland neighborhood , C.C. Antoine Park in
Allendale and the East Kings Highway Park, also known as the "Duck
Pond," in Broadmoor. The last-named is of particular interest,
especially with regard to how the ducks and geese that now are a popular
part of the scenery along the old course of the Red River came to be
there. If readers can supply dates – even a month and year – The Times
archives will be checked and any stories on the openings shared.

John Andrew Prime writes about military matters, history and interesting
people for The Times. To expand on a story or suggest a future column,
call him at (318) 459-3250 or send email to jprime@gannett.com.

Source: Ultimate sacrifice made in 1960 Cuba -
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2015/03/10/ultimate-sacrifice-made-cuba/24685065/

No comments:

Post a Comment