It is said that no one saw the sun radiate more light than at dawn on that November 30, 1956 in Santiago de Cuba, when for the first time the city was dressed in olive green.

Under a tense firefight, clandestine combatants took up arms to prevent the sending of troops to the place where the Granma yacht would disembark.

Neither the alarms nor the sirens intimidated the brave young men who swore that year to be free or martyrs.

The attack on the national and maritime police stations, the bombing of the Moncada Barracks, among other missions that would neutralize sites of the dictatorship, made up the plan of action.

Many Santiago homes opened their doors to the revolutionaries, cured the wounded and sewed the clothes and bracelets of the mutineers.

In the events of that day, as a source of intelligence and courage, shines the organizational capacity of Frank País García, main architect of the armed action, in which Pepito Tey, Tony Alomá and Otto Parellada lost their lives in their youth.

For more than two hours the city remained in the hands of the rebels, who provoked the confusion of the Batista forces.

The harassment of the participants was fierce at the end of the combative operation, but found an epic response from the people, who with dignity and heroism faced that difficult moment.

Although some of the missions failed at the last minute and well-known adverse factors made the arrival of the Granma yacht with its precious cargo impossible on the scheduled date, November 30 remained forever in the history of Cuba.

Sixty-seven years after that action, we Avileños, as part of the Cuban people, continue to wear the glorious uniform to defend the soil where we were born, with the same courage and the same dedication of those young men who in 1956 dressed the homeland in olive green.