Guantanamo bids goodbye to legacy laborers

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  Four of 18 Cuban commuters are shown crossing through a gate to U.S territory as day laborers at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo on March 18, 1999. The protocol then was they were required to strip naked and change their clothes before leaving Cuba for a mile or so walk to the Northeast Gate at Guantanamo. EMILY MICHOT / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

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  A U.S. Marine checks the ID cards of two Cuban commuters among 18 who passed through the Northeast Gate at U.S. Navy base Guantanamo after a mile or so walk from a Cuban checkpoint on March 18, 1999. EMILY MICHOT / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

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  Four of 18 Cuban commuters are shown crossing through a gate to U.S territory as day laborers at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo on March 18, 1999. The protocol then was they were required to strip naked and change their clothes before leaving Cuba for a mile or so walk to the Northeast Gate at Guantanamo. EMILY MICHOT / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

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  U.S. Navy base residents found young photos of the elderly men to adorn their Guantanamo retirement cake. US NAVY BASE GUANTANAMO

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  The U.S. Navy base retirement party for the last two day-laborers from Cuba featured a cake-cutting ceremony. US NAVY BASE GUANTANAMO

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  The U.S. Navy base retirement party for the last two day-laborers from Cuba featured a folkloric dance presentation by school children who live on the base, either as kids of troops or contractors. US NAVY BASE GUANTANAMO

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  The U.S. Navy base retirement party for the last two day-laborers from Cuba featured a certificate presentation by the base commander, Navy Capt. John "J.R." Nettleton. US NAVY BASE GUANTANAMO

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  The last two day-laborers from Cuba posed with school children who live on the base, either as kids of troops or contractors, at their Guantanamo retirement party. US NAVY BASE GUANTANAMO

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  The U.S. Navy base retirement party for the last two day-laborers from Cuba featured a folkloric dance presentation by school children who live on the base, either as kids of troops or contractors. US NAVY BASE GUANTANAMO

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  In this photo, Harry Henry, 82, back, and Luis La Rosa, 79, front, leave at the end of a working day at the U.S. base in Guantanamo, Cuba, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012, where they have been working since they were in their late teens. La Rosa started working on the base at the age of 18 and Henry when he was 17. La Rosa and Henry, the last of what were once hundreds of Cubans commuting daily to work at the base, are retiring at the end of the December. SUZETTE LABOY / ASSOCIATED PRESS

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  Luis La Rosa, left, and Harry Henry talk with a U.S. Marine, unseen, on the U.S. Naval Station base as they arrive for work in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. Rosa started working on the base at the age of 18 and Henry when he was 17. La Rosa and Henry, the last of what were once hundreds of Cubans commuting daily to work at the base, are retiring at the end of the month. SUZETTE LABOY / ASSOCIATED PRESS