August 6th is the 50th anniversary of the death of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (1901-1973), an important, notorious figure in Cuban history. Democratically elected in 1940 (with the support of the Communists), he gave up power in 1944. In 1952, he overthrew the civilian… https://t.co/6ifzUvKkqEtwitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Of Spanish, African, Chinese, and possibly some Taíno Indian descent, he was the only "person of color" to rule in Cuban history. His life is controversial to this day. Among his deeds was freeing a young rebel named Fidel Castro who tried to overthrow his government in 1953.

Don't know about Normandy, but actually some of the ethnic groups being shelled today in NE Syria did fight on the allied side in the Second World War, against pro-Nazi Iraqis in 1941 and throughout the war. It is a tenuous but very real connection through the "Iraqi Levies." 1/3 The Iraqi Levies/RAF Levies were colonial troops raised by the British in Iraq from the 1920s to the 1940s. Eventually they were made up mostly of Assyrian Christians but during WW2 also included Kurdish and Yazidi units. And hundreds of Syrian Assyrians joined up too. 2/3