"I grew up as a soldier and a good Cuban at Bay of Pigs"

 CIENFUEGOS, Cuba, Apr 19 (ACN) Nobody can say how much history fits inside a man as calm and humble as Esteban Castro Márquez Alba, who rose to the occasion during Yankee imperialism’s invasion at Bay of Pigs, which made him grow and mature as a soldier and a good Cuban.

Márquez Alba, who was 18 when he and another seven young men were guarding a garrison and magazine in the province of Cienfuegos the day before the mercenary invasion, heard the roar of cannons the following morning. He reported to his chief, who sent him to the causeway that leads to Bay of Pigs to find out what was happening, which he did, confirming that a mercenary invasion was under way.

"As Fidel's order was to defend our town—Horquita—at all costs, we got ready to stand up to the invaders. The local population and local militia was mobilized and armed and we dug trenches with the help of women, children and seniors, who refused to be evacuated despite the fact that the enemy was very close, as we confirmed after we made a reconnaissance.

"I saw action after I joined a group of men who were adamant that they wanted to be at the battlefront, so I explained to my CO that I was familiar with the enemy positions and could guide those militiamen to prevent them from walking into an ambush.

"My first combat with the enemy was in the Milanés Canal, where pieces of shrapnel wounded my arms, but I was back on my feet in no time. (…) Fidel would call every now and then to learn about the defensive measures. At some point I was carrying an important message and ran into him by sheer chance as he watched how the Cuban artillerymen were raining shells on the enemy.

"We won at Bay of Pigs thanks to both the Commander-in-Chief’s spot-on leadership and the courage of our young troops, heroic men and women who wrote a new chapter in our history, all of which made it possible for our people to defeat their powerful enemy at Bay of Pigs.”