Seagull One: The Amazing True Story of Brothers to the Rescue

Cuban exiles Prellezo and Basulto chronicle the striking true story of a rescue association built from the ground up. Born in Cuba in 1940 to a middle class family, Basulto developed an early fascination with weapons, acquiring numerous pistols, rifles, and machine guns, and a penchant for daredevil hobbies like motorcycle and car racing. After a brief stint at Boston University, Basulto returned to Havana mid-revolution, was recruited and trained by the CIA, and took part in the Bay of Pigs operation. Surviving that fiasco, and witnessing a young man die while attempting to reach Florida, Basulto formed Brothers to the Rescue with friend Billy Schuss. Initially the group monitored the Florida Straits in boats searching for capsized refugees, but BTTR soon realized that they could be more effective from the sky. They acquired a small fleet of Cessnas, some of which were involved in aerial gun battles with Cuban MiGs, and Basulto, along with Prellezo, tells the well-executed, often harrowing true story of how he and co-founder Schuss daringly took humanitarian efforts into their own hands and transformed the lives of thousands of Cuban refugees. (Sept.)