Lee Christmas would be a figure in the banana wars whose concern for

his projects would be so great that he would pick up a weapon and fight

for them. His interest in the Central American region had been sparked years

before, when he headed a railroad project there. When Zeleya's troops seized

his locomotive, he joined with the rebels in Honduras. Troops captured him in

1907, and he told them not to bury him if he were killed... "Because I want the

buzzards to eat me, and fly over you afterwards,  and scatter white droppings

all over your goddamn black faces." (pg. 68 Banana Men) Impressed with his

audacity, the Honduran Navy spared his life.

     Christmas would become an instrumental leader for the rebels and US interests.

On the battlefield he fought with Machine Gun Malone at the La Cieba invasion.

His of his bravery and leadership among the Honduran rebels led him to be greatly

respected.
 

          Lee Christmas and others before La Cieba                 Lee Christmas at the height of his career