Why the Bay of Pigs Invasion Went So Wrong
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Before the break of dawn on April 15, 1961, a squadron of eight B-26 bombers piloted by Cuban exiles roared down a Nicaraguan airstrip on a secret mission. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and President John F. Kennedy hoped the Bay of Pigs Invasion would result in the overthrow of Cuban leader Fidel Castro . But the operation that unfolded over the next five days became one of the greatest military fiascoes in American history.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower had first sanctioned the covert CIA operation in 1959 to topple Castro, who had nationalized American industries and strengthened ties with the Soviet Union after leading a revolution that ousted the pro-American military dictator Fulgencio Batista .
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FUBAR
My ex-husband was on a Destroyer Escort during the Bay of Pigs. His ship was supposed to come back to port after a two weeks training at sea, but, when I went to pick him up I was told the ship was not in port. That is all anyone would tell me, or any of the other wives there to pick up their husbands.
It wasn't until after the ship returned to port several weeks later that we found out where the ship had been during that time. While we had somewhat of an idea that it was some sort of secret mission, we had no idea it was to the Bay of Pigs action.
That must have been an stressful time for the wives and kids of the sailors, RW.
It really was, Kavika. During that time fear of Atomic war was a very real possibility, and having a part of our Naval forces seemingly disappear was indeed a very scary and stressful time. All we could do was wait and pray for their safety.
Where is the "Why" in this seed?
Maybe I can provide the answer - because the CIA plan was using a tiny contingent of Cuban freedom fighters, while attempting to conceal US support and most egregious was the assumption that the Cuban people would be able to rise up and aid the invasion and overthrow a firmly entrenched military dictatorship.
What was needed to win was what President Reagan would later do in Grenada:
"The U.S. Army's Rapid Deployment Force (1st, 2nd Ranger Battalions and 82nd Airborne Division Paratroopers), U.S. Marines, U.S. Army Delta Force and U.S. Navy SEALs and other combined forces comprised the 7,600 troops from the United States, Jamaica, and members of the Regional Security System (RSS) [4] defeated Grenadian resistance after a low-altitude airborne assault by the 75th Rangers on Point Salines Airport on the southern end of the island while a Marine helicopter and amphibious landing occurred on the northern end at Pearl's Airfield shortly afterward. The military government of Hudson Austin was deposed and replaced by a government appointed by Governor-General Paul Scoon until elections were held in 1984."
"The date of the invasion is now a national holiday in Grenada, called Thanksgiving Day , and the Point Salines International Airport was renamed in honor of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop."
There is no ''Why'' in the seed because the point of the article explains what and why things went wrong in this invasion. Of course after this failed attempt by the US the relationship between Cuba and Russian got much stronger..(Cuba missile crisis).
Why is a good question to ask when trying to explain why Castro came to power. The US supported a corrupt brutal military dictator and didn't see, or didn't want to see, that this would lead to a revolution. When it did the US withdrew support from Bastista and he fled to Spain to live out his life in splendor. It's also worthwhile to research the Mafia involvement in Cuba.
A very complex situation in it's time in history.
The "Godfather, Part 2" gives a bit of a picture of that.
Yes it does. Meyer Lansky spend some time in Cuba, in fact a lot of time as the ''accountant''...
The US supported a corrupt brutal military dictator and didn't see, or didn't want to see, that this would lead to a revolution. When it did the US withdrew support from Bastista and he fled to Spain to live out his life in splendor. It's also worthwhile to research the Mafia involvement in Cuba.
There wasn't just Mafia operating in partnership with the Cuban government, major US corporations had a great relationship with the dictator Fulgencio Batista. Cuba back then was another adult playground with Gambling Casino's and Brothels. So ya, Cuba wasn't a democracy. Then came the revolution and a FAR WORSE DICTATOR. One quarter of the Cuban population fled (mostly those who owned a piece of land or just about anything). When people vote with their feet it's a lot stronger than a vote at the ballot box.
A very complex situation in it's time in history.
Yup, how many in our government were sympathetic to Castro?
"But Earl Smith, the ambassador, never got over what he saw as CIA officers' excessive sympathy for the Cuban revolution. In his 1962 memoir, Smith wrote, "There is no advantage to the United States in sending an Ambassador to a country if the CIA representatives there act on their own and take an opposite position."
As for the CIA director:
"Eisenhower is told by Allen Dulles, the CIA director, and others that the rebels are moving very fast from the eastern part of the island to the central part , and Eisenhower says, 'Well why wasn't I told this before?' "
If you want to see a picture of Allen Dulles, that's him on my avatar.
Ahh, US corporations and the military...Shades of Central and South America and throw in Haiti. General Smedley Butler said it best.
Oh yes, the CIA and their support of dictators and also their take down of legitimate elected governments. It came back to bite us in the ass more than once.
Yes, I recognize the photo.
I know many will doubt this, but Carl of the 101st was dead positive about it. There was no question in his mind. This was NOT the Cuban Missile Crisis.
He and others from the 101st were loaded up in C119s to fly in circles for a while and were prepared to be dropped in to Cuba during Bay of Pigs.
His C119 lost an engine and had to continue circling for a good long time with the plane flying at an angle and shaking the previous meal out of it's passengers.
Eventually everybody was ordered to return to base.
I don't doubt it for a minute. JFK was afraid anybody would find out the US was behind it. That sounds right!
No doubt dave. At that time I was also with the 101st. We were in a different part of the world doing stupid shit.
Hill 937.
Yeah, Hamburger Hill was bad, Hill 875 Dak to was even worse.
Terrible loss of life and quality of life.
Did they keep the hill? Or, did they also, walk away from it?
When the hill was finally taken it was discovered that the NVA had left. It became a moot point.
The fighting was a very close quarters and the casualties were extreme. So extreme in fact that when the battle was over the 173rd Airborne was declared combat ineffective and was pulled out of the line to regroup and receive reinforcements.
Sorry for that.
Was this before or after you were transferred to the 173rd?
Dak To was 1967. I left Vietnam in 1965.
Alright.
Glad you missed it.
Thoughts for those who didn't.
Flawed intelligence, CIA arrogance, bad planning, and woefully insufficient material resources. That is just to name a few.
That's a good start Doc.
I need to find this article again but Batista had the chance to kill Castro when their revolution was just starting in 1958 I believe. He let him take to the mountains using this excuse as a way to get more money to fight the commies all the time pocketing millions of dollars. His wealth, when he fled to Spain, was estimated to be in the neighborhood of $300 million.
It seems every conflict we have been in since WW11 has been a screw up.
U.S. military history is just not your forte is it? What problems there were was a result of political interference and mismanagement, not the fault of the military in general.
Never once blamed the military itself. [delete]
OK guys, let's not go there. IMO Ender pointed that every conflict we've gotten into after WWII as a country (not the military) has been a screw up....It's the military that suffers from the mistakes the politicians make and they have made a huge number of them.
So there ya go guys.
BTW, I did not flag any comments.
I never do.
I will amend my statement a little. I still think most of our intervention has been a screw up, from our undeclared wars to selling arms to factions.
My amendment is, even though our conflicts/wars (since WW11) have been messed up, places like South Korea (imo) are a lot better off that what they could have been.
Sorry though. Didn't mean to derail your seed.
You didn't. I appreciate both yours and Doc comments. Just some clarification was needed.
If any of the wars/conflicts after WWII were justified it would be Korea...