It started on April 17, 1961. The soldiers of Brigade 2506 were Cuban exiles fighting to rid their land of Communist domination. They had the political and military support, they thought, of the U.S. government. Fidel Castro’s days were numbered. The invasion ended in blood and confusion and the deepest despair a fighting force could know. The battle at Cuba’s Bay of Pigs, doomed by a variety of forces out of the soldiers’ control, turned into a rout. At the end, there were 114 dead and 1,189 captured. As Christmas Eve approached, the U.S. gave Cuba $62 million worth of food and medicine as ransom for more than 1,100 Brigade 2506 fighters captured in the invasion. President John F. Kennedy honored the Cuban exile fighters in a packed Orange Bowl, accepting their banner of battle and proclaiming, “This flag will be returned to this brigade in a free Havana.”

1961: Cuban Air Force Plane Used by Pilots in Revolt Against Fidel … defecting airmen brought ship safely to landing in Miami.

Published 6/19/1961: George Southworth/Miami Herald Staff — Fidel Castro tiptoes across logs leading to half-finished workers resort in lake near invasion site.

12/29/1962, Miami Herald: President John F. Kennedy in Orange Bowl walking alongside Bay of Pigs invasion leader, Manuel Artime.