Leahy recounts 'surreal' Cuba trip to bring back Gross

"I'm used to getting to work early, but I've never commuted by way of Havana, Cuba, before."

Hours after traveling to Cuba to accompany freed prisoner Alan Gross on his return home, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., described the clandestine operation as "surreal" as he recounted how it unfolded in the early morning hours Wednesday.

Leahy had made several trips to visit Gross in prison and had advocated behind the scenes for his release. The senator met privately with presidents Raul Castro in Cuba and Barack Obama at home and with other public figures, including Pope Francis. Leahy said he felt time was running out for the imprisoned aid worker.

"Alan was losing weight; his condition was deteriorating a great deal," Leahy told The Burlington Free Press on Wednesday. "I was growing increasingly concerned that we may be losing our opportunity."

There also was a sense of urgency in regard to the political ground Leahy had gained through his meetings with the Cuban leader.

"President Castro is older, well into his 80s, and is not going to run again," Leahy said. "I felt like our window was closing to finally take a step that was in our best interests, and Cuba's."

The green light finally came earlier this week.

"A few days ago, the White House called and asked if I could go down (Wednesday) morning, pick Alan Gross up and bring him home," Leahy said. "I told them, of course I would."

As the Senate voted late into the night Tuesday on Capitol Hill, Leahy kept one eye on the time in anticipation of his trip.

"I didn't even stay for the last vote because I had to get ready," Leahy said. "We had to make sure we had connected all the dots."

Rising at 2 a.m., Leahy traveled to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. He passed through a gate between two heavily armed guards and circled around a building to where one of President Obama's backup planes awaited.

Once in the air, Leahy sat at a conference table with the plane's other occupants — including Gross's wife, Judy — and reflected on the efforts that had brought them to that point.

"Then, as daylight started to break, we could see Cuba coming up over the ocean," Leahy said.

The plane landed at 8 a.m. at an otherwise empty airport, and the envoy was led into a building where Alan Gross was waiting. Leahy told the freed man — who appeared to have "lost even more weight" — that they needed to "turn right around and get out of there."

"As soon as we got back onto the plane, they revved it up, and we took off," Leahy said.

The cloak-and-dagger nature of the operation was necessary, Leahy said, because of the sensitivity of the situation and the potential for a sudden reversal in the decision to free Gross.

"We had to keep it very, very secret, because we didn't want it to fail," Leahy said. "It had to be done without any press, because it could only be accomplished if it was done quietly."

The group watched the news break via a television in the plane's conference room. Later in the flight home, a voice came over the intercom.

"The pilot announced that we had crossed into U.S. airspace, and Alan stood up and cheered," Leahy said. "I went over to him and said, 'It's actually real.'

"When we landed, and he saw the American flag, Alan turned to me and said, 'It's good to be home.' "

Leahy said he was exhausted from the ordeal, but also energized by what had been accomplished.

"I've been involved in quiet diplomacy through the course of several different presidents," Leahy said, "but most of it stays private. With this one, the end result is one that we can make public, and I am very pleased."

The senator did say, however, that such operations under the cover of darkness require a unique kind of stamina.

"I wouldn't recommend doing something like that on two hours sleep," Leahy said, "but at least I wasn't the one flying the plane."