Captain Mark Leary

Instapundit had a link to an SI.com piece by the lead singer of the band Five for Fighting. singer John Ondrasik went down to Guantanamo Bay to play for the troops and to talk hockey for Sports Illustrated. In the SI piece Ondrasik mentions that perhaps the biggest hockey fan down there is the base commander - Captain Mark O'Leary.

I thought that name rang a bell - so I did some digging and yes - the reason I know that name is because Captain O'Leary is a Worcester native. He went to college at Clark and later got a Masters in Public Administration from UMass, Amherst. Given that he has a decent slapshot - I'm willing to bet he played some outdoor hockey on the pond in Crystal Park near Clark (or maybe at Elm Park).

It is interesting to note that since the US has no ambassador or diplomatic mission in Cuba that Captain O'Leary's regular informal meetings with his military counterpart at the fence line represents the highest current level of political interaction between the US and Cuba and given the health of Fidel Castro this is saying a lot.

Not bad for a Worcester kid.