The next time you see someone wearing a Che Guevara shirt think about the Americans that helped him get into power. William Morgan was one of them. He helped fight in Castro‘s Revolution and was one of only three to hold the rank of Comandante.
William Alexander Morgan was born in 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio, and dropped out of high school to join the United States Army. He went AWOL, got arrested, escaped, and recaptured. He spent two years in federal prison and was dishonorably discharged. After his release, he got married and had two daughters but abandoned them in 1957.
Morgan went to Cuba to join the Second National Front with Fidel Castro. After winning several battles he was promoted to the rank of comandante in 1958. He joined Che Guevara and together they captured the city of Santa Clara. They forced President Bautista out of Cuba. Bautista had a long history with Cuba and allowed the American Mafia to run gambling casinos on the island.
After Fidel Castro took power Morgan married a Cuban revolutionary and they had two daughters. Morgan went into the frog farming business selling frog legs to restaurants and the frogskins for fashion accessories. He employed over 600 workers and shipped thousands of frog legs to the United States each month.
As Castro’s power grew Morgan had a falling out with the new Cuban leader. Castro had promised Morgan that he was anti-communist but was now working with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Morgan secretly started to plot against Castro. Morgan had denounced the United States on public radio during the Revolution and in return, the U.S. had revoked his citizenship. Morgan turned to the CIA and worked with them to help overthrow Castro. Castro was now looking to terminate anyone that was against him.
In 1960 Castro had Morgan arrested. After a short trial, William Morgan was killed by a firing squad in 1961. Fidel Castro and his brother watched the execution. Morgan was 32 years old.
A month later the United States invaded Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. The CIA had been given $13 million dollars to organize an invasion of Cuba and failed. Morgan was lost to history.
Morgan’s Cuban wife was also arrested and found guilty as a co-conspirator. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison but was released after 10. She fled Cuba during the Mariel boatlift of 1980. She left Cuba alongside thousands of refugees released from jails and mental health institutions.
Years later she confessed that she and Morgan were running guns for anti-Castro gorillas because of Castro’s pro-Soviet Union ties. She moved to Ohio and fought to restore Morgan’s US citizenship. She also asked that his remains be returned to the United States.
In 2017, the United States government finally restored William Morgan’s citizenship. The Cuban government promised to return Morgan’s remains but his grave is still in Havana.