Historic 1950S Revolutionary CubaSlogans Are Back In The News

By Bernie Marvin

With the news now and then that the United States may take back Cuba, I see the historic 1950s Revolutionary Cuba slogans are back in today's news. They bring back vivid memories of my association with a box of Cuban cigars.

That was the time in my life when a box of Cuban cigars was the basis for my dabbling in theft, bribery, and smuggling. The elements of the crime were simple: the cigars, a load of exposed film, and a fighter pilot who loved Cuban cigars.

Many years ago, I was involved in a deal that would have made Al Capone jealous. But when I was in a tight spot and had nowhere to duck, a box of Cuban Cigars turned the tide, and I shall be forever grateful for my friend, the fighter pilot (who shall remain nameless, addressless and serviceless!) who accepted my desperate bribe and got my stuff to the Department of Defense back in the Good Ole USA.

Here's a rough outline of the event: As a basic US Marine rifleman involved in the troop landings of Marines in Beirut, Lebanon in 1958, I was assigned the double task of documenting the action and participating in the action using my tools: The United States Caliber .30 M1 Garand Rifle PLUS three Rollei cameras, using 120 film. I was a US Marine combat photographer and a rifleman all strapped together into one.

As our 2d Marine Division units made their way into Lebanon and advanced to other missions, I was busy photographing actions involving my units in their effort to rid the country of aggressors and insurgents from bordering countries.

It was a hot, intense, and dangerous time, and when it came to making arrangements to get my exposed film back to the USA so it could be viewed by the Department of Defense censors, they could then forward it to Leatherneck Magazine for publication, I was responsible for making sure all this happened and that the film found its way back to the USA.

One day I came across a pilot who was to make a return trip back to the USA. He was due to leave the Beirut Airfield soon on his trip. If I could convince him to make a special delivery of the film to Washington, DC, I could get the jump on having my photos cleared by the censors; then they could be published quickly.

I had recently "appropriated" a box of Cuban cigars from a nearby Army unit in trade for something I had that they wanted. I used the treasured cigars as bartering and trading tools. I did not smoke the horrid things, but it seemed that many others did, and if I needed a transport anywhere, or some decent chow, extra ammo, or socks, a Cuban cigar could be bartered the same as cash.

As an enlisted Marine, I, like all other enlisted Marines, did not have cash. Where would I spend it? I had nothing except the ton of gear on my body and back. But I also had cigars. Cuban cigars that were, I was told, among the best in the world.

Those cigars were worth their weight in gold when it came to getting stuff you could not normally appropriate through legal Marine Corps channels, if you know what I mean. What I was doing was not illegal, per se, but according to the terms of the Universal Code of Military Justice, I was looking at a reduction in rank, loss of pay and allowances, and maybe three to five in the brig. To me, it was worth the risk.

So, I approached the pilot, who was a Major (I was a lowly Sergeant), and, through conversation, determined he was headed toward the Anacostia Naval Air Station in Maryland. Hmmmm……. Would he consider taking 25 rolls of undeveloped film with him? He didn't figure he would do that. Could he reconsider? I called to have someone meet him and pick up the film. No, he didn't figure he could do that, either.

Well, Major, I said, do you figure you could do something to help me out if there were five Cuban cigars involved in this request? He said he figured he could do that. I handed over the film, then the five items of bribery, and he was on his way.

The film arrived back in the States, was developed, processed, and inspected by DOD, and then shipped to Leatherneck Magazine, where it was published. The magazine folks were pleased to get the photos and wondered how I could have put that deal together from such a remote location. Leatherneck Magazine was one of the earliest publications to cover the invasion, but only the pilot and I knew why.

Bribing a military pilot with Cuban cigars was something new for me. For the pilot, the Cuban cigars were a big deal. I had no idea they were so popular worldwide. A few years after Castro took over Cuba in 1959 and installed his Communist regime, the USA Cuban Trade Embargo in 1962 prohibited trade with Communist Cuba, ending all possibility of Cuban cigars being imported into this country.

Today I read in all the news outlets about the USA "normalizing" relations with Communist Cuba and note that their famous cigars are still prohibited for sale here, so much for normalization.

Although I don't give a hoot whether Cuban cigars are ever sold in the USA, I do enjoy thinking back to 1958, when those cigars were very important to me and to my efforts to get some film from a faraway country in the Middle East back to Washington, DC.