Brigade 2506

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Brigade 2506 was the name given to a CIA-sponsored group made up of 1,511 Cuban exiles who fought in the Bay of Pigs Invasion at Playa Girón in Cuba.[1][2][3][4] The brigade's name was derived from the military ID issued to the first member of the brigade to die in military training.

The brigade trained in CIA training camps in South Florida, Panama, and Guatemala. The invasion involved an amphibious landing at night, with an infiltration team organized in Trinidad, Cuba who were to open a second front.[3][1][2] When Brigade 2506 landed at Playa Girón, they were quickly engaged by the Cuban military. Planes located on Cuban air fields belonging to Nicaragua had notified the Cuban government of the impending invasion.[1][2] For 48 hours the paramilitary forces of Brigade 2506 were under artillery fire.[3][1][2] Outnumbered and suffering heavy losses, they were forced to retreat to the Zapata Swamp.

Stranded in the swampland, most of the members were eventually captured and imprisoned. A few of the members were able to escape by riding small, rigid boats back to the United States of America. Initially, the CIA denied having any connections with the brigade. However the United States later admitted a connection with the brigade and negotiated to pay a $53 million ransom for their return.[4] All the surviving brigade members would be released and deported back to the United States by December 1962. In the end, roughly 114 members of the brigade died.[3][1][2][4] Some of its members have gone on to found the Brigade 2506 Veteran's Association which controls the Bay of Pigs Museum & Library in Miami, Florida.[3][1][2]

The brigade was commanded by a 29-year-old former sergeant in the Cuban Army, Pepe San Roman.

Among the brigade members were:

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Susan Candiotti & Garrick Utley. "Exiles' passion still high 40 years after Bay of Pigs", CNN, April 17, 2001. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f Susan Candiotti & Garrick Utley. "Remembering the Bay of Pigs invasion", CNN, April 17, 2001. 
  3. ^ a b c d e Oscar Corral. "Bay of Pigs vets have put their loss in perspective", Seattle Times, April 20, 2006. 
  4. ^ a b c "The Return of Brigade 2506", Time Magazine, January 04, 1963. 

[edit] Further reading

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