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45th Anniversary of the
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Maj. Gen. (DCNG-Ret.)
Erneido A. Oliva, Former Second-in-Command
of the Assault Brigade 2506. CAMCO,
April 13, 2006.
On April 17, 1961, approximately 1,300
courageous Cuban patriots belonging to the
Assault Brigade "2506" landed
on Cuban beaches. Our mission was to overthrow
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and to reestablish
democracy in our homeland. However, the
military operation at the Bay of Pigs which
had been personally approved by President
John F. Kennedy lasted only three days.
After 72 hours of continuous fighting,
exhausted, we found ourselves surrounded
by more than 40,000 enemy troops, hundreds
of artillery pieces and more than 50 heavy
tanks. Soon we realized that we had been
abandoned by those who had recruited, encouraged,
organized and trained us--American U.S.
warships carrying more than 2,000 marines
watched our inevitable defeat from only
miles away. The American fighter planes
flew over our heads, rocked their wings
as a sign of friendship, and continued their
flight without firing a single shot.
History records show that our invasion
forces were able to land, secure and defend
our assigned positions and repel continuous
attacks at Playa Larga and Playa Giron as
had been initially planned. However, by
our second day our ammunition was exhausted,
and I had to redeploy the forces I commanded
at Playa Larga to Girón's Western
Front. The lack of the promised American
air support enabled the sinking of the Rio
Escondido and the Houston by Cuba's air
force. Along with the ships, the supplies
required to sustain the military operation
were lost.
By the end of the third day, with no supplies
or ammunition and with 114 of our heroic
comrades already dead, I realized that our
"allies," only a short distance
away from the beachhead, would never come
to our aid. Facing that bitter reality,
I withdrew to the Zapata swamp with the
last defenders of Playa Larga and Playa
Giron where we eventually were confronted
by our enemies--several brigadistas were
executed on the spot and the majority taken
prisoners.
Unfortunately, despite the politically
motivated promises of "FREE CUBA"
made during the last 45 years by all U.S.
administrations, nothing has changed in
Cuba . Despite their intense crackdown on
dissidents, executions of innocent people
and continued human rights violations, the
79-year-old Fidel Castro and his 74 year-old
brother Raul remain entrenched in power
unchallenged by the international community.
Unfortunately, the Castro brothers have
now outlasted ten U.S. presidents who have
failed to recognize the threat that they
represent to the national security of the
whole American Continent. Yet despite almost
half a century of unfulfilled U.S. promises,
the Bay of Pigs veterans still hold out
hope that the Free World will awaken and
enforce appropriate economic and political
pressures to the communist dictatorship
that will eventually bring freedom and democracy
to the enslaved Island.
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