depscribe's photos

Buildings at GTMO are prepared for the unexpected.

It is generally thought that GTMO is maintained simply because it is a thorn in the side of the island's communist regime. This is not so. It is a warm-water base that is very close to deep water, making it indispensible for training. That is a battleship, close to shore.

Two months later, she would fire one of her 16-inch guns, sending its projectile a record distance of almost 27 miles; five months later her number two turret would explode, killing 47 sailors. The explosion has yet to be definitively explained. It was the Navy's worst loss of crew during peacetime operations.

. . . is the Cuban town of Guantanamo. Sugar is shipped from here. It is also where Cubans who work on the base live -- strange but true.

on a hillside, Cubans have written their greetings.

The base is in many respects a very pretty place.

This is where Cuban workers at GTMO enter each morning and each night exit. They must follow a very narrow path -- there are mines on both sides.

. . . Marines in a tall tower keep an eye on their Cuban counterparts.