In the walk of human beings there are memorable days. The one lived last Saturday in Sabanazo was one of them.
Enjoying the meeting of thirty of the members of the first Mig 23 aircraft squadron that flew through the skies of Angola, moved our entire soul. How many hugs, how many tears, a sea of emotions multiplied in the humble home of Jesús “Chucho” Leyva, one of the members of that epic.
"Although I did not fly over southern Angola, today it seems to me that I am in the air, what a great privilege to have such valuable people here in my home, so humane, some of them I have not seen for almost forty years, this is a gift of life".
The real revelry began around ten in the morning, with the arrival of the Holguín-Las Tunas train, where the first two illustrious soldiers made the trip, one from San Germán and the other from Cristino Naranjo.
A while later the bulk of the "squadron" would arrive, in a cart winged by a tractor and in a van, natives of the cities of Camaguey, Santiago de Cuba and Holguín appeared, as well as Moa, Sagua de Tánamo, Banes and Mayarí, in addition to others from the Calixteño geography, including mechanics, electricians, specialists in fuselages, radars, in short, the entire brigade supporting the operation of the Mig 23 that they imposed. respect in the air of southern Angola, before the South African aviation.
After the blows of covid 19, Antonio Torres Prior from the mayarice came up with the idea of inquiring into the lives of those brothers who were part of that illustrious group in the mid-1980s: “I began a relentless search, calling here, asking there, until I located the vast majority and we decided to meet last year in Monte Alto, at the home of Léster Rodríguez Guerra, although we were very few, the impact was tremendous, you can imagine almost forty years without seeing we.
On this occasion, the number of members of the Mig 23 squadron that overflowed with love flew over the sky of Sabanazo, almost multiplied. Rafael Barragán, the only representative of Camagüey de Agramonte, very moved, expressed: "What a beautiful idea this is, what a moment, look how old we are, and to think that we met when we were just teenagers, although the joy of having been war comrades for more than two years increases every day, bless these tears, and that next year we all get together, I only ask now for a roll call in memory of the twelve brothers who are no longer physically here but who will live eternally in our hearts."
Afterwards, again the handshakes, the blows on the back, the laughter, anecdotes, some humorous, others sad, but all with the honey of brotherhood and humanism on their lips. The supreme example was the high monetary gift to Claudio Almarales, whom Parkinson's, which hits him hard, has not been able to knock him down, and even Sabanazo arrived by train, by means of which he made the return trip to his beloved San Germán, waving euphoric from one of the windows.
With their goodbye, at Chucho's house, the eternal commitment of the rest of the squadron to continue loving each other like the first day and not to stop until the whole group gets together, which they may achieve in July 2024, again in Calixteña, this time in the house of the combatant José Sosa Camejo, in the Los Moscones neighborhood, where the love flights of the Mig 23 will arrive again from the African continent.
