A Fascinating Brave, Bad Ass, Cuban-American Soldier...

"He stood, a soldier, to the last right end,
A perfect patriot and a noble friend,
But most a virtuous son.
All offices were done
By him, so ample, full, and round
In weight in measure, number, sound,
As, though his age imperfect might appear,
His life was of humanity the sphere."
-- Ben Johnson

So, one day I am surfing aimlessly. Just checking out the web and following links "as you do"... I so just heard Eddie Izzard in my head :)... and I came across a website called Babalú, which is a site by a Cuban living in America and a big time Anti-Castroite. His posts are very amusing and informative and debunked everything that I ever thought of people from Cuba and what they think of Castro. I suggest you take a spin by.

In my perusal of his blog, I noticed a post by a Yoan Hermida and I also noticed that the author of Babalú held the poster in great affection and had a link to a site called Yoan Hermida. The name fascinated me. It was just a really cool name. I wondered if Yoan was a version of the English Ian? I have to mention for the benefit of the Prince Consort, that the Welsh version of Ian is Ioan, as in Ioan Gruffudd of Horation Horndog fame. Interestingly enough, I think it may be pronounced the same as Yoan's name.

So, I clicked on the link to check out who or what Yoan Hermida was. In the Blogoshere, one can't be sure that that is a name or means something different. The first thing you read under the title is "Cubano, capitalista radical, soldado americano, exterminador de islamofascistas y comunistoides." If I understand it correctly, it means that he is a Cuban radical capitalist who is also an American soldier who exterminates Islamic Fascist and Communists. How can you NOT love this guy!

Yoan was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba and received political asylum from the U.S. at the age of 7. He joined the Army at the age of 17. The links Yoan provides on his website are reflections of his beliefs. He is a pretty multi-faceted gentleman. He has libertarian leanings and some of the things he supports are gun rights, abortion rights, President Bush, repealing the death penalty, withdrawing from the U.N. He is interested in the fiction of Ayn Rand, chess, and baseball. The fact that his favorite team is the evil empire will not be held against him :)

It never fails to humble me when I read of someone who has experienced what it is like to grow up in a country other than the U.S. and then come here and appreciates and is willing to defend what we take for granted. Their patriotism should shame us all.

Back to Yoan... He is just a really interesting individual ... complicated ... a veritable melangé of ideas and beliefs. It doesn't hurt that he is easy on the eyes ;)

He is also now in Iraq. He is able to occasionally post to his blog from there and I look forward to reading his observations. I think it is important to read stories about what is going on in the world from people who are actually there, rather than the twisted media, who don't like to report anything positive we are doing.

So, show your support to Yoan and head on over to check it out. Also, if you can keep him in your thoughts and prayers for a safe return, it would be greatly appreciated!

Images copped from owned by Yoan Hermida.

Stay cool and safe! And Yoan, Vaya con Dios, mi amigo...