Soon after arriving, he went to work for the Marriott Corp., helping prepare airline food. Eventually, the company paid for his training as a chef and he retired two years ago after working in the kitchen of many local Marriott hotels.

``My life in the United States has been very happy. I managed to escape Castro and I'm very grateful to this country, which game me a new life full of opportunity,'' he said.

NOEL DIAZ

Noel Diaz, 60, of Miami was emotionally overcome when he saw himself in the Mariel photograph -- a poster of the Ocean Queen on display at Cuba Nostalgia in May. It shows the shrimp boat arriving in Key West on May 30, 1980.

Diaz is the curly-haired man on the bow. He said the photo was taken around 3 p.m., after an entire day and night at sea. The Ocean Queen, he said, was piloted by an American couple. ``I'm sorry today I don't remember their name.''

He said when he got on the boat he found that spot up front and stayed there the entire trip. ``All I had with me was a towel. I used it to put my head down and sleep,'' he said.

Diaz said he was picked up by Miami relatives -- and quickly went to work as a gas station attendant at a Shell station on West Flagler Street and Seventh Avenue. From the night shift, he eventually rose to manager. Today, he's a scheduler, arranging transportation for the county's disabled. ``I took to life here right away,'' he said. ``It's as if I had been born here.''

He married, divorced, remarried and has two daughters, 22 and 27. They took the photo of Diaz's arrival in the United States and embossed it on a T-shirt and on Diaz's mouse pad. ``I also have the photo framed in my living room,'' he said. ``I'm very proud of it.''