Havana's Heroes?

By Romesh Ratnesar

Among the forgotten remnants of America's rickety Cuba policy are the thousands of Cubans who served the U.S. during World War II. Since 1963, Cuban vets--who worked at the Navy's Guantanamo Bay base and in many cases saw combat--have been denied the pension benefits owed them under U.S. law. Washington has long maintained that the money would line Fidel Castro's pockets. But now at least 250 plaintiffs hope to have a class action accepted in federal court to obtain their money. Lawyers say that official Cuban pension files were destroyed by fire; the government claims that the Cubans can't sue in U.S. court. More than Greatest Generation nostalgia may be required for these vets to get their money.

--Reported by Tim Padgett/Miami

With reporting by Tim Padgett/Miami