A Monument Thanking Americans Stands in Santiago de Cuba

There is a memorial that most Americans are not likely to know of, and one that few Americans have likely visited. This is because this memorial – dedicated to American soldiers who gave their lives to liberate the oppressed – is in Cuba. It is a monument to the Americans who fell in the battle of Santiago de Cuba, the decisive event that secured Cuban independence from Spain.

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The monument is placed under the tree where Spanish forces surrendered. Stone tablets are carved with the names of these Americans, along with their units and the nature of their deaths. A plaque at the site commemorates the Cuban General who led the Cuban freedom fighters into battle. It reads:

To Major General Calixto García Iñiguez, leader of the forces of the liberating Cuban army which took part in the Spanish-Cuban/American War, who, thanks to their wise cooperation, the Spanish forces could be defeated. Absent from the act of surrender in Santiago de Cuba, signed under this tree on July 16, 1898; present forever in the memory and the hearts of the Cuban and American people identifying with the high ideals for which the blood of the children of Cuba and the United States was shed, blended into these fields. The municipality of Santiago de Cuba dedicates this homage to the glorious general in observation of the 50th anniversary of the Spanish-Cuban/American War.

1898-1948