Orestes Lorenzo was a Cuban serving in the Cuban Air Force in 1991. He formerly fought in Angola. He decided to leave Cuba, but he promised to come back, somehow, even if he had to swim, to pick up his wife and two kids.
He made it to the US in a Mikoyan-Gugverich MiG-23 in 18 minutes. It was too fast for the USAF to react. He flew over the naval base in Key West and landed. He asked for and got political asylum.
The Cuban government placed his wife under surveilance, suspecting that they were going to attempt to leave, too. Orestes got visas for his family and they were going to return, but the Cuban government did not let them go. An official told the wife:
"You're not permitted to leave the country. Your husband had the guts to leave in a MiG. Let's see if he has enough to come back."
Pretty much a slap in the face for human rights.
After calling diplomats and even going on a hunger strike, the Cuban government still denied them the right to leave. He decided to take action. When a Mexican group that supported the mentally ill vistited Cuba, they gave his wife a map of where to be and a code key for telephone calls. They were tapping the phone lines, too.
Numerous times, agents tried to trick her. One approached her and offered her a boat trip off. She denied. That saved her from an instant 3 years in jail.
Imagine if the USA was like that.
He aquired a second-hand Cessna 5819X from donations, and he phoned the Mexican group. They called the wife. Some of the code words they used were "Bring me shoes, size 5 1/2 and 6 1/2" (he'll be there between 5:30 and 6:30 AM) and "I'll get you money to buy a TV and videocamera" (he'll be there tomorrow).
The next day, Orestes takes off. He flies just 6 feet off of the ground...yes, SIX FUCKING FEET, to avoid being caught on radar. He evades radar, and soon appears over Havana. He is going to land on the highway!
However, there is a huge rock on the highway! And 500 meters ahead, a bus and a truck!
He sees his family in bright orange shirts. He dodges the boulder, and sees the truck drivers getting off of the road. 60 cm. off of the ground, he pulls the choke lever, pulls up, brakes, and barely makes the landing. The right wing nearly smacked into the truck.
He pulls a 180, everyone gets on, and he takes off, flying low again. Once he's out of missile range, he pulls up. He made it back to the USA.
Is that not a badass?
http://observercc.com/archives/dec02/flight.htm
For the non-believers, there is a link.
2003-11-18, 09:15 PM
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