Washington Union Station
PRR
Got one thing in common with Castro: beheld the grandeur of Penn Station!
New Haven
Excerpt from article by Gabe Pressman
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fidel-castros-romance-new-york-gabe-pressman
Castro was leaving New York for Boston on a Saturday morning in late September. He was going to address a class at Harvard. As he entered Penn Station, he was cheered by supporters. He stopped at my camera for a brief interview. I remember he denied that he was a Communist and promised that his regime would be for “the people.”
The bearded dictator, clad in an Army uniform and wearing combat boots, then walked towards the waiting train. He was followed by an entourage of bearded lieutenants all dressed the same way. They got on the waiting train, seating themselves at the windows. When I looked up, they all looked alike.
But then journalistic disaster struck. The film had buckled in the camera. The interview was ruined. I decided to board the train to try to interview him again.
When police officers tried to block our way, I yelled: “You can’t stop us from riding the New Haven Railroad!”
And my three-man crew and I boarded the train.
It took about 40 minutes for us to get to the car where Castro and his people were sitting. A young woman came out to talk to us. I told her that I knew Castro was for the working class and that, if I didn’t get this interview, I would lose my job. This was not true. But it seemed to work. A few minutes later, we were ushered into the car….and we found the Cuban leader in a tiny roomette, sitting with a Harvard professor.
Castro was intrigued by the circumstances. “Are you going to tell people you talked to me on a train?” he asked. And I said yes. We started the interview but the cameraman shouted that it wasn’t any good. The portable light was reflecting from the mirror back into the lens. Castro got up from his seat and took a towel, draping it over the mirror. “Is that okay?” Castro asked---and the cameraman said yes.
As the train rolled toward Boston, we proceeded with the interview, in which he denied that he was a Communist and said that it was important that the American people and Latino people have a good understanding.
After ending the interview, we ran up the corridor to get off the train, I think, at Norwalk. Castro shouted: “Will I be able to see this in Boston tonight?” I yelled back: “Sorry. No. This is only a local show.”
Interesting. I remember Gabe Pressman when he was a reporter for NBC News in New York back in the 60's and 70's.
As an aside, I worked in a place in New Jersey back in the 80's that had a large clientele of Cuban exiles. "Wow," they used to say concerning Castro, "And we thought Battista was bad!"
Thanks Wanswheel!
Firelock, thanks for remembering Gabe, WWII Navy vet, still alive, 92.
In 1963 in third grade we had a Halloween party. One girl dressed as Fidel complete with cigar. I always kinda liked that old troublemaker, bad as he was.
wanswheel Firelock, thanks for remembering Gabe, WWII Navy vet, still alive, 92.
Still alive at 92? God bless 'im! A fine journalist and gentleman of the old school, sadly disappearing from today's media. There are exceptions, but very few.
54light15 In 1963 in third grade we had a Halloween party. One girl dressed as Fidel complete with cigar. I always kinda liked that old troublemaker, bad as he was.
In a way, I think we've all got a sneaking admiration, whether we admit it or not, for the guy who thumbs his nose at the system and gets away with it. And when he becomes the system, well!
Not that he deserves the admiration, but as Mr. Spock used to say, "It is not logical, but it is often so."
Firelock76 54light15 In 1963 in third grade we had a Halloween party. One girl dressed as Fidel complete with cigar. I always kinda liked that old troublemaker, bad as he was. In a way, I think we've all got a sneaking admiration, whether we admit it or not, for the guy who thumbs his nose at the system and gets away with it. And when he becomes the system, well! Not that he deserves the admiration, but as Mr. Spock used to say, "It is not logical, but it is often so."
Training Exercise, the 'Brass' said.. A real pain in the 'Tuchas' We said...
Went to school in Fall of '63...At some point we had a 'speaker' who was a member of "The Brigade" that the CIA had trained...Also had a 1st Class Radarman who was in College with me, as well...He had 'midwatch' on the night in question,... one of his remarks was that there were so many ships (and aircraft) on his screen, "..one might have been able to walk to 'Cuber' from Florida..." I became No Fan of those cane cutters, and the Castro Bros. But DO Like Cuban Cigars, on occasion. [War Story for this Weekend]
Don't misunderstand Sam, or anyone else for that matter, I'm NOT an admirer of Castro, not by any means. I was just responding to 54Light's post with a bit of understanding.
Look at Cuba, and you'll see Fidel did a hell of a lot more harm than good. As those Cuban friends of mine said, they didn't think anyone could have been worse than Battista and his thugs, but they had NO idea.
I can't help but think Castro wanted the power so he could jump on the American gravy train, but when that didn't pan out, well, there was always the Russians. Needless to say that didn't work too well for him in the long run.
Castro is not just a murderous villain, he’s an Ivy League murderous villain.
CASTRO VISITS PRINCETON
Has Busy 15 Hours Here
Fidel Castro, former revolutionary leader and now Prime Minister of Cuba, breezed through Princeton Monday and Tuesday, making two speeches and causing consternation to Secret Service men and State Police. The still-bearded and tieless Castro was the guest of Dr. Roland T. Ely, Constitution Hill, who was largely responsible for his presence here.
Senor Castro's speeches before the American Civilization Program conference at the University and before the students at Lawrenceville School went off as scheduled, but he added a brief, unplanned appearance. Following the Monday night ACP conference in the Woodrow Wilson School's conference room, Senor Castro spoke to the crowd of students and supporters gathered outside.
It wasn't planned that way, though. The Cuban leader and his party of 30 were herded out the back entrance of the conference room, and the entourage originally turned left on Washington Road from Prospect Street to avoid the crowd in front. But Senor Castro ordered the cars turned around, went back to the clamoring group and flaunted the careful security measures by alighting and speaking.
As it developed, only a few Secret Service men and students could hear him. Of the three appearances, by far the most interesting was the hour and 20 minute session before students in the ACP and invited guests, when Dr. Castro evaluated the importance of his revolution.
He said his success proved that a revolution is possible "when people are not hungry," against a national army, and, even more important, against a modern army. "I believe that these lies were thrown away with Batista," Senor Castro added.
Also at the ACP conference, originally scheduled to be "off-the-record" but opened to United States newsmen at the insistence of Cuban writers, the Cuban leader claimed the widespread public support he received was traceable to "the people's hatred of a dictatorship and because we didn't preach the fight between classes." He continued, noting that he was seeking to win public opinion in the United States, as he did in Cuba.
Following the conference, Dr. Castro made the unscheduled speech and then drove to Morven for a short press conference and a party given by Governor Robert B. Meyner for the Cuban and his group. Among the guests was Dean Acheson, visiting the University for conferences with students, who was seen chatting with the Governor and Dr. Castro.
The Cuban leader spent the night at Mr. and Mrs. Ely's home and drove to Lawrenceville Tuesday morning to speak before some 600 students and faculty gathered in the Lawrenceville School Chapel. His 15-minute speech was aimed at the "young people" and stressed the importance of young men in the Cuban revolution and to the future of the United States.
From Lawrenceville, Senor Castro and his entourage went directly to Princeton Junction to catch the 9:50 a.m. train to New York, where he will wind up his 11-day visit to the United States. Elapsed time between arrival (also by train) and departure: 15 hours.
While in Princeton, members of the Cuban press and the official party stayed at homes of faculty members of the University. Mr. Ely presented most of the group with Cottage Club ties, which were worn by the tie-wearing contingent among the Cubans.
Wanswheel: [Now I'm going slightly off the reservation...)
Sounds as if on his visit to Princeton and New Jersey Castro was reasonably tame(?) in 1959.
But when he came back to the Big City in 1960 Castro and 'his crew' were apparently, anything but....and not to mention, raucaus, as well:
From the NY Daily News Archives: (a headline and article):
"CUBAN BOSS ROCKED CITY ON 1ST VISIT BACK IN '60"
linked: @ http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/cuban-boss-rocked-city-1st-visit-back-60-article-1.890903
FTA:"...In his most memorable trip to New York, a young, macho Fidel Castro cut a boisterous, chicken-plucking swath through the city. It was September 1960, and the Cuban strongman was here for another historic gathering of leaders at the United Nations. Historians say no one, not even Castro in later years, ever topped his 11-day performance. The New York trip had come two years after Castro's guerrillas had taken control of the island nation and the 34-year-old leader's revolutionary rhetoric was unwelcome to American leaders. Since he was addressing the UN, there was little the outgoing Eisenhower administration could do - other than restrict his travel to Manhattan. First Castro had to find a hotel. The government prevailed on the sedate Shelburne Hotel at Lexington Ave. and E. 37th St. to accommodate Fidel and his 90-member entourage. "Yankee-hating Cuban Premier Fidel Castro was bedded down last night snug as a bug in a beard in the Hotel Shelburne," the Daily News wrote. But after 24 hours, the enraged Castro stalked out, complaining about surveillance and management demands he post a $10,000 bond. Castro threatened to pitch tents in Central Park..."
[The full story of Castro & Co.'s shenanigans are in the linked article.]
samfp1943 Sounds as if on his visit to Princeton and New Jersey Castro was reasonably tame(?) in 1959.
Yes, he was tamed by Ed Sullivan, advised to behave like George Washington.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjpnfDwWd7Y&t=3m36s
Well if those earlier pictures are any indication, he may have had an impeccibly starched cover, but didn't know how to blouse his damn trousers!
Apparantly never broke starch on his damn utilities either! (That's fatigues for you Army and Air Force guys!)
Castro at Princeton? Well, there's the real world and then there's the Ivy League.
There is an interesting perspective on Castro and the US in 1959-60 in David Talbot's biography of the Dulles brothers.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
schlimm Dulles brothers
Dulles brothers
Excerpt from The Brothers by Stephen Kinzer (2013)
Cuba holds a unique place in the American imagination. It lies so close to the United States and offers such rich resources and strategic advantage that it long seemed a natural candidate for annexation to the United States. Presidents since Thomas Jefferson have coveted it.
“I candidly confess that I have ever looked on Cuba as the most interesting addition which could ever be made to our system of States,” Jefferson wrote. “The control which, with Florida, this island would give us over the Gulf of Mexico, and the countries and isthmus bordering on it, as well as all those whose waters flow into it, would fill up the measure of our political well-being.”
In 1898 President William McKinley sent American troops to Cuba to help rebels overthrow Spanish rule. They succeeded. Immediately afterward, the United States Congress voted to renege on its pledge, enshrined in law as the Teller Amendment, to withdraw the troops after victory and respect Cuban independence. McKinley named an American military governor. Later the United States granted Cuba limited self-rule but landed troops whenever American interests seemed threatened. That happened in 1906, 1912, and 1917—when Secretary of State Robert Lansing dispatched an occupation force at the suggestion of his nephew John Foster Dulles, whose Sullivan & Cromwell clients wished to ensure the continuance in power of a regime that respected their investments.
For much of the twentieth century Cuba remained a quasi-colony of the United States. During the 1950s, the last of its pliant dictators, Fulgencio Batista, struck lucrative deals with American gangsters, who built lavish hotels and casinos, filled them with American tourists, and turned Havana into the most garishly sinful city in the hemisphere. American businesses, including Sullivan & Cromwell clients, dominated the country. They owned most of its sugar plantations—two of the largest belonged to United Fruit—and were heavily invested in oil, railroads, utilities, mining, and cattle ranching. Eighty percent of Cuban imports came from the United States. When International Telephone & Telegraph asked Batista to approve a steep rate hike in 1957, Foster sent a message advising him that the increase would serve “the interests of Cuba.” Batista approved it. In a vivid display of gratitude—the scene became a centerpiece of the film The Godfather, Part II—executives from ITT presented him with a golden telephone.
Although most Americans could not or would not see it, Cuba’s corrupt tyranny was increasingly unpopular. During 1958 Castro’s guerrillas won a series of victories. On the last day of the year, Batista resigned. Before dawn on January 1, 1959, he fled to the Dominican Republic, taking several hundred million dollars with him. A week later, after a jubilant trip across the island, Castro arrived in Havana and began a political career that would shape world history.
Foster was convalescing in nearby Jamaica when Castro seized power. “I don’t know whether this is good or bad for us,” he mused after hearing the news.
Three months later Castro made his tumultuous trip to the United States. The nascent counterculture embraced him. Allen Ginsberg and Malcolm X came to his hotel in Harlem. Supporters cheered outside. One carried a sign reading MAN, LIKE US CATS DIG FIDEL THE MOST—HE KNOWS WHAT’S HIP AND WHAT BUGS THE SQUARES.
Wasn't there a Hitchcock movie partly based on Castro's New York visit and his stay in Harlem? Can't recall the title.
Topaz
https://books.google.com/books?id=dU4B-E94rWAC&pg=PA124&dq=%22cubans+hotel+in+new+york%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9_-S8vMnQAhUj7IMKHRDbA7QQ6AEINTAA#v=onepage&q=%22cubans%20hotel%20in%20new%20york%22&f=false
Oh yeah. I remember that the guy who played the dean in Animal House was in it.
54light15Oh yeah. I remember that the guy who played the dean in Animal House was in it.
Would you believe Dean Wormer in camo with a beard?
Of course, since this is a railroad forum, I have to show Mr. Vernon as Wormer in my favorite scene.
wanswheelwanswheel wrote the following post 21 hours ago: schlimm Dulles brothers Excerpt from The Brothers by Stephen Kinzer (2013)
Wrong book.
DME- Thanks for that. A waste of a nice 1964 Lincoln Continental, but what are ya gonna do? He was in my favourite Mission Impossible episode where he has a beard and is playing some kind of Che Guevara guy and has the gold in a prison cell and the MI crew drills up from underneath and heats up the room, melts the gold and you know what happens after that.
Castro in Central Park in 1948, with cigar. Photographer possibly his wife. They were in New York on a long honeymoon, 2 or 3 months. So he knew the city, probably rode the subway. Don’t know but imagine they took the train up from Miami, where they stayed the first 10 days. Return trip, he bought a ’47 Lincoln in New York, drove it to Key West and ferried it home.
schlimm Wrong book.
Well, different book. Couldn't find the recommended.
http://erenow.com/modern/the-brothers-john-foster-dulles-allen-dulles-and-their-secret-world-war/12.html
http://erenow.com/modern/the-brothers-john-foster-dulles-allen-dulles-and-their-secret-world-war/index.html
Amazon or BN:
https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Chessboard-Dulles-Americas-Government/dp/0062276174/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1480347363&sr=1-1&keywords=the+devil%27s+chessboard
Schlimm, the CIA posted a review of the Talbot book. By the way, thanks for pointing to the relevance of the Dulles brothers.
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol-60-no-3/seeger-the-devils-chessboard.html
wanswheel Schlimm, the CIA posted a review of the Talbot book. By the way, thanks for pointing to the relevance of the Dulles brothers. https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol-60-no-3/seeger-the-devils-chessboard.html
Not surprisingly, he/CIA didn't like it. The reviewer did not read it very carefully, either. No wonder we've had so many intell blunders.
RIP Gabe Pressman
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Sights-_-Sounds-From-The-St_-Patrick_s-Say-Parade_New-York-416473774.html
There were rumors of prostitutes plying their trade in the Theresa, and a myth was born that Castro had been kicked out of the Shelburne for keeping live chickens in his hotel room.
http://www.history.com/news/fidel-castros-wild-new-york-visit-55-years-ago
Imagine if this went on in a sleeping car.
We Didn't Know It Was History's Greatest Naval Battle by Gabe Pressman (2011)
It was one of the most dramatic moments of World War II.
On Oct. 20, 1944, Gen. Douglas MacArthur waded ashore on the beach at the island of Leyte in the Philippines, declaring:
“To the people of the Philippines: I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God our forces stand again on Philippine soil – soil consecrated in the blood of our two peoples. We have come, dedicated and committed, to the task of destroying every vestige of enemy control over your daily lives, and of restoring, upon a foundation of indestructible strength, the liberties of your people.”
It marked the beginning of the greatest naval battle in history, the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Somehow, that battle is receding in the memory of many Americans, obscured by the decisive and important engagements of the European war. Yet naval historians know how important it was and what powerful personalities were involved.
I remember it because I was in it. I was an ensign on a small ship, the USS PC 470. And on that fateful October day we were part of the 7th Fleet. Our mission: to help land the troops on the beach. We were anchored about 2,000 yards off the shore.
The memories of that morning feel fresh. There were the big guns of the battleships, spewing out 16-inch shells. And the cruisers and destroyers joined in the bombardment aimed at the Japanese emplacements on the island. The shells from the battleships sounded like subway trains roaring overhead.
On the morning of the invasion, at about 4:30, we were served the traditional Navy meal for a battle day, steak and eggs. For the enlisted men and the officers, that meal was considered a big deal.
I was just 20 years old, and for a young guy brought up on the relatively quiet streets of the Bronx, the greatest shock was seeing the LCIs -- the amphibious vessels built to carry supplies and men -- go into the beaches loaded with young soldiers and come back, 30 minutes later, with the wounded, some of the same men heavily bandaged. The LCIs were launched from the troop ships and they returned to the same vessels with the wounded.
Back in June 1944, when I joined our tiny ship at Pearl Harbor, we got orders to join an invasion of the Japanese-held, mid-Pacific island of Yap but we were diverted while at sea. MacArthur, we know now, persuaded Adm. Chester Nimitz and President Roosevelt to bypass that island and launch an attack on the Philippines.
We spent three months with hundreds of other ships in the British-held island of Manus, near New Guinea, taking on provisions for the invasion of Leyte. Our vessel, which carried depth charges and sonar gear for anti-submarine warfare, was converted to what was called a “control ship.” We took on heavy, clumsy radio gear so we could put our vessel in the service of a high-ranking officer to unload the transport ships when we got to our destination.
We anchored off the beach and a four-striper, a captain, came aboard to direct the ship-to-shore amphibious traffic. That first day was just the beginning of a week-long struggle. The 7th Fleet, under Adm. Thomas Kinkaid, included powerful battleships, cruisers, destroyers and minesweepers and a few of the smallest ships, the PCs, like mine.
I never knew that what was going on was the greatest naval battle in history. I doubt if any of the top commanders knew either. It seems to be the nature of naval warfare that the perspective may come only months or years later.
I remember getting up for the 4 a.m. watch one day and seeing flashes in the sky. I asked the skipper: "What’s that, heat lightning?" And he replied, with some disgust, by thrusting to me a dispatch from the fleet commander to all ships: “Expect bombardment from Japanese fleet.” The captain told me he didn’t know what to do if the Japanese actually broke through. “Maybe I’ll break out small arms and we’ll join the troops on the beach.”
That “heat lightning” I saw were the guns of two fleets. Months later, I would learn that during that morning, we sank 16 Japanese warships and one submarine. We lost 3,000 men; the Japanese, 10,500. Three Japanese battleships, 10 cruisers and one fleet carrier went down. We lost one light carrier and two escort carriers and several lesser ships.
But for blunders on both sides, the outcome could have been different. Adm. Takeo Kurita, who commanded the main Japanese fleet, could have driven his force into the beachhead and wiped out all the ships anchored there, including ours. For unexplained reasons, even to this day, Kurita made a U-turn and returned to the Japanese home islands.
Adm. William “Bull” Halsey, the fiery commander of the Third Fleet, rushed off in the wrong direction, mistakenly following a Japanese decoy force.
Kurita could have destroyed our beachhead but he didn’t. Halsey could have cut off Kurita’s retreat and, perhaps, annihilated his force. But he couldn’t because he was in the wrong place.
Three years earlier, as the Japanese invading force was defeating his army on Bataan, MacArthur had been ordered to leave. He boarded a PT boat and took off for Australia, from which he would launch his military comeback.
The final words of his speech to the Philippine people on that historic October day were: “Rally to me. Let the indomitable spirit of Bataan and Corregidor lead on! ... Let no heart be faint! Let every arm be steeled. The Guidance of Divine God points the way. ..”
Many Filipinos loved MacArthur, and I found out seven years ago when I visited Leyte, they still do. Most of the American people loved MacArthur’s theatrics. They also liked the fiery disposition of Gen. Patton in Europe and Bull Halsey in the Pacific. It was a popular war. We haven’t had one since.
Kurita made his turnaround because he didn't know how weak Taffy 1 actually was. Admiral Clifton Sprague could have withdrawn his meager force (6 CVE's and 6 DE's) but he counter-attacked and confused Kurita to no end.
CSSHEGEWISCH Kurita made his turnaround because he didn't know how weak Taffy 1 actually was. Admiral Clifton Sprague could have withdrawn his meager force (6 CVE's and 6 DE's) but he counter-attacked and confused Kurita to no end.
One of my favorite writers on World War Two, Ralph G. Martin said it best when he described the action of the Taffy force...
"The fox got into the henhouse, and the chickens attacked!"
And rest in peace Gabe Pressman, a class act all the way.
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