The suicide mission came directly from the president of the United States in 1898: Go behind enemy lines in Cuba, find rebel commander Calixto García at his base in the inhospitable Sierra Maestra mountains, and win his support for the American campaign against Spain. One solider, Lieutenant Andrew Rowan, volunteered to follow this seemingly hopeless order. But Rowan ultimately succeeded in the mission, convincing the Cubans to join the American cause and winning the nation’s second-highest honor, the Distinguished Service Cross.
