By MICHAEL D. SALLAH
BLADE NATIONAL AFFAIRS WRITER

When the widow of William Morgan asked the Cuban government for permission to return his body to the United States recently, news reporters
began searching for the grave in an ancient Havana cemetery.

The Toledo soldier of fortune - executed in 1961 by a Cuban firing squad - was buried in the family crypt of a fellow rebel in the massive Colon
Cemetery.

But when the reporters went to the grave, they soon discovered Morgan’s remains were moved to another site 10 years later.

When they went to his final resting place last week, they discovered another surprise: The body was gone from there too.

Now, like so many other Cold War secrets, the whereabouts of William Morgan’s body remains a mystery four decades after his death.

His widow, Olga Goodwin, says she will continue to press for the return of her late husband’s remains in what could be a long struggle.

"I can’t give up," says the 65-year-old Cuban-born woman, who now lives in West Toledo. "I’ve waited so long."

The Cuban government is expected to consider her request to return the remains to Toledo, but it may take weeks, says Luis Fernandez, a press
attaché for the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C.

While navigating the diplomatic juggernaut once may have seemed the biggest challenge, it now may be locating the grave of the man once
known as the Yanqui Comandante.

Cemetery officials have said they will assist American and British reporters in finding Morgan’s burial place, but were still searching on Friday.

"At this point, I cannot tell you where he’s at," says Morgan family friend Lourdes Del Pino of Miami, whose relatives allowed Morgan’s body to
be buried with her father’s on March 12, 1961 - the day after they were executed at La Cabana.

Morgan and her father, Jesus Carrera, were among 13 defendants who were accused of running guns to anti-government rebels in 1960. After a
military trial the following year, they were found guilty and shot by a firing squad.

Morgan’s widow, whose story was reported in a three-part series by The Blade two weeks ago, spent 12 years in prison on the same charges.

She managed to leave her country during the Mariel boat lift of 1980, and moved to Toledo - her husband’s last wish before he died.

Olga says she believes her husband’s remains may have been reburied in a portion of the old cemetery where political prisoners were laid to
rest. Shortly after her release from prison in 1972, she was able to secretly visit a crypt bearing his name.

"One of the cemetery workers showed me where he was," says Olga, who has since remarried.

As the search continues, Cuban scholars from Miami to Havana are now debating the source of the death of the high school dropout from Toledo
who became a hero in the Cuban revolution.

The charismatic street-tough stunned his family in 1957 by abruptly leaving Toledo to join the rebel forces trying to overthrow the dictatorship of
Fulgencio Batista.

But after the war, Morgan became openly critical of the new revolutionary government under Fidel Castro, and his country’s growing relationship
with the Soviet Union.

To many people in the Miami exile community, Morgan is still considered a hero for his anti-Communism stance.

But to ardent Castro supporters, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed guerilla is still considered a traitor. Cubans say Morgan may have helped them win
the struggle over Mr. Batista, but he eventually became like every other American by turning against the new leaders.

In his 1995 book, The Secret War: CIA covert operations against Cuba 1959-62, Cuban General Fabian Escalante insists Morgan was a CIA
agent who was secretly running guns to the mountains to prepare for anti-Castro guerillas to invade the island as part of the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Olga, however, has said her husband was storing arms merely to protect his family and fellow anti-Communists who fought with him in the
revolution..

The Bay of Pigs operation in April, 1961, - secretly supported by the CIA - failed, ending in the capture of 1,180 anti-Castro guerillas.

Several Cuban scholars say there’s no conclusive evidence to show Morgan was preparing for the invasion. But one book written in 1963 by
former Castro prisoner John Martino suggests that Morgan knew of an impending military operation against the island nation just 90 miles from
the coast of Florida.

When they were both incarcerated in 1960 at La Cabana prison, Martino said Morgan told him about an invasion, but that Morgan did not believe
it would come in time to save him. As it turned out, Morgan was killed a month before the Bay of Pigs action.

Additionally, General Escalante levels other charges, saying Morgan was "undisciplined" and couldn’t be trusted by the new revolutionary
government. Most of Morgan’s ill feelings toward Castro were because he was left out of the Castro government.

"His wounded feelings got the better of him," the general states.

Other charges abound, including allegations that Morgan pocketed more than $500,000 for trying to help the Dominican Republic stage a coup
against Castro. But others dispute the charge.

Dr. Antonio de la Cova, a native Cuban and professor at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana, says anything presented by Cuban
authorities has to be read with discretion - especially as it relates to Morgan.

"It is a communist country, and information is many times presented for a reason," he said.

He said he believes Morgan was slighted because he was left out of Castro’s inner circle, but that Morgan was more upset about the new
government embracing communism than losing out in a personal power struggle.

"Deep down inside, Morgan was red, white, and blue. He was an American," said Dr. de la Cova. "He wasn’t going to accept the fact that the
government was a communist one."

But the professor, who has interviewed scores of guerillas who fought in the revolution, said Morgan may indeed may have been planning for a
U.S.-backed invasion, and would have probably even fought with the invaders.

"I’m sure he believed, like so many others who risked their lives, the revolution was betrayed," said Dr. de la Cova.

As far as Morgan being a CIA agent, Jaime Suchlicki, director of the Cuban-American Institute at the University of Miami, says Morgan may have
been willing to work with American operatives in Cuba. But he said there is no research to show that the soldier of fortune was actually a
government agent.

After all, after serving in the rebel forces - rising to the rank of comandante, or major - Morgan ran afoul of American officials.

In a controversial action, he was stripped of his U.S. citizenship in September, 1959, for being a part of the forces of a foreign country. Though he
argued that he never took action against the United States in any way, his basic rights as an American were revoked.

U.S. government officials took their spite one step further in August, 1959 - a time when they were still battling the Soviets to court favor with
Castro. U.S. Ambassador to Cuba Philip Bonsal told one of Castro top aides that Morgan was planning to stage a coup to topple Castro’s
regime, according to declassified State Department documents.

It turned out that Morgan had already told Castro of the planned coup, and in fact was working as a double-agent for Castro’s benefit. Morgan
supporters say the U.S. government’s tattling on Morgan shows how little it thought of him after the Cuban revolution.

Those actions were shrouded in secrecy, but for the first time in four decades, the U.S. Congress may be looking into the details surrounding the
life and death of the rebel commander. U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s office is preparing to ask the State Department for declassified documents
relating to Morgan.

Miss Kaptur wants to know why the State Department stripped Morgan’s citizenship, says Dan Foote, a congressional aide.

"[Olga] has asked us to look into this, and we have a lot of questions," he said. "The congresswoman is prepared to go to the State Department
for answers."

Several supporters say Morgan, who was dishonorably discharged by the U.S. army in 1950, may have done more to help the U.S. in the
post-war years in Cuba.

"This is a man who died fighting communism," said Armando Perez, a radio broadcaster and Cuban exile in Miami. "What his own country did to
him was wrong." Officials at the time said Morgan violated the U.S. Immigration and Nationality laws by "fighting in the armed forces of another
country - to wit, Cuba."

Olga says the issue of citizenship is as important to her as bringing her former husband’s body home. But for now, she has serious concerns
about the existence of his remains.

The Toledo Hispanic Commission has joined her by sending a letter last week to the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, asking for
assistance. "We’ll use whatever resources and contacts we can," said Baldemar Velasquez, chairman. "She has a right to his remains."

But that may be difficult.

Colon Cemetery records obtained by The Blade show Morgan’s remains were placed in a mausoleum on March12, 1961. On April 17,1971, his
body was transferred to another vault in the northeast section of the cemetery - a common practice to make room for new burials, according to
Miami exiles who have relatives buried there.

But when a U.S. news correspondent - acting on information and sources relayed by The Blade - tried to find the site last week, the remains were
not there.

So far, Olga and others have stopped short of accusing the government of discarding the body.

"I want to wait and give this time," she says. "They [cemetery officials] are saying they will continue to search. I want to see what they find."