Research Catalog

Let the bastards go from Cuba to freedom on God's Mercy

Title: Let the bastards go [electronic resource] : from Cuba to freedom on God's Mercy / Joe Morris Doss ; with a foreword by Walker Percy.
Author: Doss, Joe Morris.
Publication: Baton Rouge : Louisiana state University Press, 2014.

Available Online

Details

Description

1 online resource (xvii, 279 pages)

Summary

"When Fidel Castro opened the Cuban port at Mariel on April 23, 1980, two Episcopal parish priests in New Orleans found themselves thrust into the unlikely role of rescuers. Risking arrest and their personal safety, Father Joe Morris Doss and Father Leo Frade defied both Cuban and American governments to deliver over four hundred émigrés to freedom. A moving memoir with the suspense and intrigue of a political thriller, Let the Bastards Go recounts how two seemingly ordinary men--bolstered by their faith--led an extraordinary mission. Hispanic parishioners at Grace Episcopal Church in New Orleans told Doss and Frade of their friends' and relatives' dire situation in Cuba and pleaded for assistance. The two organized first a series of 'freedom flights' that helped rescue more than one thousand people, but these were cut off when the great Mariel boatlift began. In a riveting narrative, Doss describes how he and Frade then purchased an old World War II submarine chaser they renamed God's Mercy, engaged in delicate diplomacy at the highest level of Cuban authority, and ultimately ran an American Coast Guard blockade to reach Mariel. Throughout his tale of the dramatic rescue, Doss intersperses compelling portraits of many of the participants and pilgrims, revealing the human faces behind a historic event filled with suffering, cruelty, and violence, as well as heroism and humor"--From publisher's website.

Uniform Title

Let the bastards go (Online)

Alternative Title

Let the bastards go (Online)

Subject

Doss, Joe Morris
Frade, Leo
God's Mercy (Ship)
Episcopal Church > Louisiana > New Orleans > Clergy > Biography
Church work with refugees > United States > History > 20th century
Mariel Boatlift, 1980
Rescues > Cuba > Mariel > History > 20th century

Note

Originally published: 2003.

Access (note)

Access restricted to authorized users.

Contents

Prologue -- The mission -- The parade -- On the streets -- Freedom flights -- Behind the political scenes -- Barriers -- The people! -- Decision -- Repudiations -- Going -- Propaganda -- The last flight -- The meeting at Tamiami Park -- Negotiations -- Commando priests -- The Rubicon -- The cigar maker -- Storm clouds -- Marlene -- Samson and God's Mercy -- Yamil -- Going away -- The leper -- Que se vayan -- On board God's Mercy -- Casting off -- At sea -- Running the blockade -- Mariel -- Difficult decisions -- The dockworker -- Youth -- The guests of the Triton Hotel -- Ready or not -- Designs -- Growing anxiety -- The family story -- The camp at Mosquito -- Desperate actions -- A time to go -- Voyage home -- Appendix: The passengers of God's Mercy.

LCCN