Let the Bastards Go: From Cuba to Freedom on God's Mercy

by Joe Morris Doss, Walker Percy

With a foreword by Walker Percy. 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 émirgrés 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. Doss describes how he and Frade 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 riveting narrative, Doss intersperses compelling portraits of many of the participants and pilgrims, revealing the human faces behind the historic expedition. Doss originally wrote Let the Bastards Go-the title echoes a Cuban anti-émigré slogan -1984, and Walker Percy provided a foreword. He decided against publishing it then, however, fearing that the wounds within the Cuban American community were too fresh. Nearly twenty years later, both Doss and Frade-now Bishop of Miami-agree that enough time has passed. The inspiring story God's Mercy can, and should, finally be told.

300 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Will Slocum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admittedly, I am a very biased reader; Joe Morris Doss is my Great Uncle and I am lucky enough to know him personally. So, going in, I knew I would enjoy this book if nothing else as a piece of family history. That said, this is a story anyone can enjoy without knowing the author. It is a tale of diplomacy, daring, and friendship. From meeting with decision makers in D.C. to explicitly running a U.S. Coast Guard blockade to bargaining in Cuba with their lives; this is a well-told narrative from a microcosm in world history about two men taking the well-being of their parishioners into their own hands - no matter the cost to themselves.