Bay of Pigs survivors pay tribute Sunday to fallen brethren

Miami Herald ^ | 16 April 2011 | Luisa Yanez

[Racehorse]

Taps will fill the air in Little Havana Sunday as the survivors of Brigade 2506 honor their fallen brothers, the men who died trying to liberate Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.

The survivors, now in their 70s and 80s, will salute as a bugle plays and 104 names of veterans killed in battle are read. SNIP

“These men certainly fit the bill of being considered a great generation,’’ said Victor Triay, SNIP

More than 3,000 took part in the doomed mission, about half of which are still alive today.

“What these men did 50 years ago was an act of bravery not seen again by our community,’’ said U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who last week honored a delegation of veterans in the nation’s Capitol.

SNIP

For exiles, the men of Brigade 2506 represent the first — and only — organized, large-scale, CIA-backed effort to rid their homeland of Castro. “Because of that, being a brigadista has always been a revered thing,’’ said Triay, who was born and raised in Miami after his parents fled Havana.

“This marked the first time in Cuban modern history that a group of men from all walks of life — lawyers, fisherman, carpenters and students — came together to achieve a greater good,” said Triay, a history professor at Middlesex Community College in Middletown, Ct.

The fact that air support for the operation was nixed by the Kennedy administration, leaving the men stranded on the beach, added to their mystique, he said. “Not only were they viewed as heroes, they were victims of a great betrayal.”

[Racehorse]

And in Fidel's Cuba:

Cuba readied for a Communist Party congress about its future with a tribute to the past on Saturday, staging a military parade for the 50th anniversaries of the U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion and the declaration of Cuban socialism.

SNIP

It was Fidel Castro who, on April 16, 1961, fearing U.S. invasion was imminent, finally told Cubans what the 1959 revolution he led from the Sierra Maestra mountains was all about. "What the imperialists can't forgive us ... is that we have made a socialist revolution right under the nose of the United States," he proclaimed in speech paying tribute to victims of pre-invasion bombing raids the previous day.

Cuba stages military parade ahead of key congress

Too bad the Kennedy administration betrayed the brigadistas.

[reefdiver]

Democrats have a history of sticking it to the fighting man during the battle. Vietnam, Iraq, Cuba, come to mind quickly, But they were front and center in Central America, taking down the freedom fighters backing the dictator, Kennedy meeting with the soviets in secret during the 80s. We have our own home grown backstabbers and they are called democrats.

[heye2monn]

How history would have been different had Kennedy not betrayed those brave men.

There would have been fifty years without an outpost of communism threatening our shores. Fifty years without the terrible fear left by the Cuban missile crisis. Fifty years without misery for the Cuban people.

Thank you, Mr. Kennedy, the “greatest president” of our era.

[Bringbackthedraft]

Thank you, Mr. Kennedy, the “greatest president” of our era.
........................................... Without the s/, you gotta be SH!#ing me! Kennedy like Obama was 90% myth.

[PzLdr]

Somebody should have gone up to Arlington and blown out the Eternal Zippo lighter to mark the occasion.

[Forward the Light Brigade]

JFK sold there patriots down the river and doomed Cuba to decades of Iron Communist rule—How many did Fidel murder over the years? Every pint of blood should be rightly placed upon JFK and his polices.

[Jack Hydrazine]

Does anyone know why Kennedy betrayed them?

[heye2monn]

My sarcasm was dripping throughout. Kennedy was but a myth. Sad to say, a lot of dim bulbs tell pollsters he was America’s greatest president.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Racehorse. JFK screwed the pooch, bigtime, and while taking responsibility in public, retaliated against those who’d talked him into doing the whole job (he only did part of it, that’s why it failed). The Missile Crisis would have been avoided entirely if he’d just have manned up and slaughtered Castro and his fellow criminals. The captured members of the Brigade were freed in exchange for one-time US aid, the “Tractors for Peace” program. JFK in his teflon way accepted the Brigade’s battle flag and pledged that it would be returned to them “in a free Cuba”.

[Vaduz]

Amen the day the sob got double tapped was no loss to anyone.

[gandalftb]

On March 31, 1961, two weeks before the Bay of Pigs, Under Secretary of State Chester Bowles pointed out to Secretary of State Dean Rusk that:

The Act of Bogota, establishing the OAS, of which America is a signator:

"No State or group of States has the right to intervene, directly or indirectly, for any reason whatsoever, in the internal or external affairs of any other State. The foregoing principle prohibits not only armed force but also any other form of interference or attempted threat against the personality of the State or against its political, economic and cultural elements."

"The territory of a State is inviolable; it may not be the object, even temporarily, of military occupation or of other measures of force taken by another state, directly or indirectly, on any grounds whatsoever…"

That's what hamstrung Kennedy from carrying out Ike's plan and laid the groundwork for the later Cuban Missile Crisis.