Washington Post
By Dan Lamothe
August 14, 2015
It was a few days into January 1961 when three Marines at the U.S. Embassy in Havana were given a sad task: Take down the American flag. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was shutting down the diplomatic compound and pulling Americans out, a response to the downward spiral in U.S. relations with the new government of Fidel Castro.
The non-commissioned officer in charge at the embassy asked for three volunteers — “the biggest, ugliest Marines you can find,” recalled retired Master Gunnery Sgt. Jim Tracy, then a sergeant. He and two others — then-Lance Cpl. Larry C. Morris and then-Cpl. Francis “Mike” East — were sent out to part a crowd of about 300 Cubans and take down Old Glory, Tracy said.
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On Jan. 4, 1961, U.S. Marines Jim Tracy, F.W. "Mike" East and Larry C. Morris, assigned to U.S. Embassy Havana, lowered the American flag outside the U.S. Embassy for the last time. On Aug. 14, 2015, the three reunite and join Secretary of State John Kerry to reopen the U.S. Embassy in Havana.
(U.S. Department of State)
