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MUSEUM AND LIBRARY
OF THE
BAY OF PIGS VETERANS
ASOCIATION
BRIGADE 2506
JOSE PEREZ SAN ROMAN
BRIGADE COMMANDER
By ESTEBAN L. BOVO-CARAS
FLAG AND COAT
OF ARMS OF THE
2506 ASSAULT
BRIGADE
P & O DOCK FOR THE SS FLORIDA
LINE BETWEEN MIAMI & HAVANA
MIAMI 1959
VIEW OF THE CITY OF HAVANA FROM THE
MORRO CASTLE AND ENTRANCE TO THE
HAVANA BAY
HAVANA A CITY THAT NEVER SLEPT
LA HABANA
IN THE LATE 1958
SPORTS PALACE
Former Cuban
Army Major,
Jesus Sosa
Blanco, in a
Roman Circus
Trial, sentenced
to death by fire
squad, accused
of war crimes,
never
committed in
order to scare
the Cuban
population and
wake up popular
frenzy and the
PAREDON cry
1959
"Thank you, Señor Mikoyan," said the Havana newspaper,
Diario de la Marina. "Your visit has clarified many things and
defined the camps: on one side the Communists and their
knowing and unknowing accomplices; on the other side
Cubans who want to continue being free men in a free world."
Battle of Wreaths.
Next morning at 11:30, Mikoyan laid a hammer-and-
sickle wreath on the statue of Jose Marti, Cuba's George
Washington, and took off for the Palace of Fine Arts, two
blocks away, to open a Russian exposition with an
outdoor speech. A few minutes later a small group of
students approached the statue with their own wreath,
bearing a ribbon that said: "Vindication for the visit of
the assassin Mikoyan." When cops waved them off, a
student shouted: "If he can place a wreath, why can't
we?" Soldiers guarding Mikoyan at the exposition
rushed up on the double, began firing their new Belgian
automatic rifles wildly in the air, and one student was
wounded.
THIS IS HOW THE EXODUS BEGAN
THIS IS THE BEGINNING, A YOUNG
GROUP OF STUDENTS AND MILITARY
OFFICERS
USEPPA ISLAND,
IN THE GULF
COAST OF
FLORIDA
FIRST BRIGADE
TRAINNING
BASE
N
YOUNG CUBANS READY TO
JOIN THE FORCES
ALVIN ROSS ARMANDO BASULTO
MARIO MARTINEZ
JULIO BUENO
LUIS M MEDINA
“EL RUSITO”
JOSE MACIAS
LUIS O RODRIGUEZ
JORGE VEGA
FERNANDO MARQUET
“Caligula”
COUNTRIES WHERE THE BRIGADE TRAINED
FLORIDA LOUISIANA TEXAS
PANAMA CANAL ZONE
PANAMA
GUERRILLA TRAINING
HELVETIA COFFEE PLANTATION
FIRST HOME FOR PILOTS AND INFILTRATION TEAMS
RETALHULEU
GUATEMALA
RETALHULEU
GUATEMALA
• BASE TRAX LOCATED AT 6000 FEET,
ABOVE SEA LEVEL
• BASE RAYO• PARATROOPERS
BASE HALCON
BASE TRAX
VIEW OF THE MOUNTAINS OF GUATEMALA
FROM THE BASE TRAX, NEXT TO THE
SANTIAGUITO VULCAN AT 6000 FEET A.S.L.
JOSE PEREZ SAN ROMANMILITARY COMMANDER
MANUEL ARTIME BUESA
CIVIL DIRECTOR
SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF CHARITY
CUBA‟S PATRON SAINT
TRAX INFANTRY BASE
MOMENTOS AT BASE TRAX
Raul de Varona, Quesada and
Manuel Blanco Navarro, The
last one executed after having
his blood drained
DO YOU REMEMBER
THE FALCONS ?
WHO WERE THEY ?
WHERE ARE THEY NOW ?
WHITE RUSSIANS, GERMANS, KOREAN, SLOVACKS, POLES,
PHILIPINES, AMERICANS
NAPOLEON VALERIANO VALLEJO
OUR PHILIPINO TRAINER
CLOSED AIR SUPPORTOPEN AIR TRAINNING
PARATROOPERS TRAINING, SERGIO CARRILLO, NOW A
CATHOLIC PRIEST, EMBRACING LONG TIME FRIEND MANUEL
ARTIMES CIVILIAN INVASION LEADER
HEAVY WEAPONS
BATTALION CONSISTING
OF 57 mm RECOILESS
RIFLES, 75 mm
RECOILESS RIFLES, AND
4.2 MORTARS
CIA MILITARY ADVISORS
HOWRAD HUNT
C. B.
CUBAN INVASION WARNING
BASE RAYORETALHULEU
GUATEMALA
LA PERLA DEL PACIFICO
EN LA CIUDAD DE LAS PALMERAS
THE PEARL OF THE PACIFIC IN THE CITY OF THE PALMS
RAYO AIR BASE
RUNWAY AT THE HALCON BASE, HOME OF THE
PARATROOPERS
B-26‟S & C-46‟S
AT RETALHULEU,
GUATEMALA
PILOT’S BARRACKS
BASE OPEN AIR THEATRE
B-26 INVADER
REAR GUN
TURRETS REMOVED
DROPABLE GAS TANKS ADDED
Revolutionary Air
Force B-26 with a
plastic bombardier
nose, in old Cuban
Air Force colors
Cuban Liberation Air
Force B-26 with a
solid nose and eight
.50 mm Browning
machine gun in it
CASTRO‟S AIR FORCE INSIGNIA
C-54, USED TO TRANSPORT THE RECRUITS
FROM MIAMI TO GUATEMALA AND TO SUPPLY
THE GUERRILAS INSIDE CUBA
PBY CATALINA
RESCUE PLANE FOR DOWNED
FLYERS
ONE OF THE BOATS USED FOR INFILTRATION
AND EXFILTRATION OF PERSONNEL IN AND
OUT OF CUBA, AS WELL AS FOR CLANDESTINE
OPERATIONS
THE SEAGULL, USED BY THE BRIGADE’S NAVY DURING “OPERATION ESPEJISMO” AS PART OF THE ELECTRONIC WARFARE IN THE NORTH COAST
OF CUBA, DURING THE BAY OF PIGS INVASION
PUERTO CABEZAS DOCK
LOADING IN PUERTO CABEZASAMMO, GASOLINE, EXPLOSIVES AND PERSONNEL
LOADED IN EACH VESSEL, AGAINST ALL COMMON
PRACTICE
N3-S-A1 COASTAL CARGO SHIPS
• ATLANTIC
• CARIBE
• RIO ESCONDIDO
• LAKE CHARLES
• HOUSTON
OWNED BY THE GARCIA LINES
THE HOUSTON
The Santa Ana that carried the Special Battalion, a
diversionary landing operation in the southern coast of the
Oriente province, near Santiago de Cuba, that could not
land because a large numbers of Castro’s troops were
waiting for them
THE BLAGAR
CIA RELEASED
DOCUMENT
ESTABLISHING THE
CHAIN OF COMMAND
OF THE CUBAN
EXPEDITIONARY
FORCE, BETTER
KNOWN AS THE
ASSAULT BRIGADE
2506
PARATROOPER BATTALION
• FIRST COMBAT JUMP IN THE AMERICAS
• FIRST COMBAT JUMP AT 600’ OF ALTITUDE
BATTALIONS 1, 2, 3, 5, 6
7TH. BATTALION, SPECIAL BATTALION,
HOMESTEAD REAR GUARD BATTALION
HEAVY WEAPONS BATALLION
BON BLIN – 4TH. BATALLION
2.5 TON TRUCK
WITH A .50
CALIBER
BROWNING
MACHINE GUN
MOUNTED
JEEP 4 CYLINDER
ENGINE MILITARY
VEHICLE
M-41 TANK COMPANY
M-41 WALKER TANK
COMBAT ENGINEERS
UNDER WATER DEMOLITION
TEAM
PUERTO CABEZAS
NICARAGUA
HAPPY VALLEY AIR FORCE BASE
PUERTO CABEZAS, NIGARAGUA
HEADQUARTERS
COMPANY AND
BATTALION
COMMANDERS
PRACTICING THE
LANDING OFF THE
NICARAGUAN
COAST
FINAL BRIEFING
BEFORE THE
LANDINGS GIVEN
BY THE CIA AND
MILITARY
ADVISERS TO THE
BRIGADE
OFFICERS IN
PUERTO
CABEZAS,
NICARAGUA,
BEFORE
BOARDING THEIR
VESSELS
PARATROOPER BATTALION STAFF
THE PARATROOPER BATTALION
179 MEN STRONG
MISSION BRIEFING
PARATROOPERS LAST SUPPER
CURTISS C-46 USED FOR SUPPLY MISSIONS TO
THE GUERRILLAS AND TO DROP THE
PARATROOPERS BATTALION IN PLAYA GIRON
B-26 SQUADRON PLANES READY FOR COMBAT
AUXILARY GAS TANKS UNDER THE WINGS
ROCKET PODS READY TO RECEIVE THE
ROCKETS
SEA FURY BEEN ARMED AT SAN ANTONIO DE
LOS BAÑOS AIR FORCE BASE WITH BOMBS
AND ROCKETS
FAR T-33
April 16, D-DAY -1 AT 1700 HOURS, RENDEVOUZ OF THE INVASION FORCES OUT OF CUBAN WATERS AND RAISING THE CUBAN FLAG,
Navy Captain Joaquin Varela Canosa, Brigade Commander Jose Perez San Roman, Civilian Leader Manuel Artimes Buesa, Dr. Juan Rodriguez Pintado MD and Captain Juan Cosculluela,
Senior Cuban Officer on the Blagar
U.S. NAVY TASK FORCE ALPHA, CARRIER ESSEX,
7 DESTROYERS AND 2 SUBMARINES
UNDER THE COMMAND OF ADMIRAL DENNINSON
USS COEY, USS EATON, USS BEALE, USS MURRAY, USS WALLER USS BACHE, USS
CONWAY, and two submarine of the Balao class, one of them the USS COBBLER
FUERZA DE TAREA ALFA
TASK FORCE ALPHA
ADLAI STEVENSON UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS, USING THE FALSE INFORMATION GIVEN TO HIM BY THE CIA AT THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSAMBLY
SATELLITE PICTURE OF GIRON
N
PLAYA GIRON
U-2 AIR PHOTO OF THE
LANDING ZONE
N
THE “SAN MARCOS” OF THE UNITED STATES
NAVY, TRANSPORTED THE M-41 TANKS, THE
ARMOURED TRUCKS AND JEEPS, AND WAS
THE ONLY U.S. VESSEL THAT ENTERED
CUBAN TERRITORIAL WATERS
LCU USED TO BRING THE
TANKS, ARMOURED
TRUCKS AND TROOPS TO
THE BEACH HEAD
&
HIGGINGS” BOATS USED TO
LAND TROOPS
LANDING CRAFTS (LCVP) DESTROYED BY THE HEAVY
CORAL ROCKS IN THE LANDING ZONE AT GIRON
THE
INVASION
LANDING
BEGAN IN
THE EARLY
HOURS OF
APRIL 17TH
1961
STARTED
WITH THE
2ND
BATTALION
19 FOOT FISHING BOATS, WITH A 60 hp OVER THE BOARD MOTOR, USED TO FERRY THE
TROOPS
“DURATECH” 19’ ALUMINUM BOATS USED TO BRING THE BRIGADE TO THE BEACHHEAD
THE SINKING
OF THE
HOUSTON
ONE OF THE BRIGADE‟S NAVY CARGO SHIP
EXPLOTTING IN THE EARLY HOURS OF
APRIL 17
COMMAND POST OF CASTRO‟S
COMMUNIST TROOPS AT THE AUSTRALIA
SUGAR MILL
LOW FLYING
B-26 OVER GIRON
THE DEATH ROAD
CASTRO‟S SOLDIERS
UNDER FIRE
DOWNED B-26 AT GIRON
AIRPORT
SOVIET T-34 TANKS ON THE
WAY TO GIRON
ROAD FROM JAGUEY GRANDE TO
PLAYA LARGA UNDER FIRE
T-34 SOVIET “STALIN” TANKS
ADVANCING UNDER FIRE
THE
DEATH
HIGHWAY
TUESDAY
APRIL 18, 1961
IN THE
AFTERNOON
DISABLED BRIGADE TANK
CUBAN COMMUNIST RUSSIAN MADE
122 MM HOWITZERS GUNS FIRING ON
THE BRIGADE POSITIONS
SOME OF THE MANY
THOUSANDS ENEMY
SOLDIERS WOUNDED
BY THE BRIGADE
FIRE
2.5 TRUCK AT GIRON MUSEUM
BRIGADE M-41 TANK, THAT LOST
THE GUN ELEVATION, DUE TO
MALFUNCTION ON THE FIRST
VOLLEY IT FIRED AND WAS
RENDERED USELESS
CAPTURED WEAPONS OF THE BRIGADE
FROM THE CARRIER ESSEX
AD-4
FLEW OVER THE
BEACH HEAD
WITHOUT
MARKINGS
THE “CELIA” BOAT
22 BRIGADE MEMBERS TRYING TO
AVOID CAPTURE, CLIMBED ON
BOARD A 18‟ SAILBOAT
STATIONED CLOSE TO THE SHORE
OF THE BAY OF PIGS
THEIR ODDISEY LASTED FOR
ALMOST 15 DAYS IN THE GULF OF
MEXICO, ONE BY ONE DIED OF
THIRST AND LACK OF FOOD,
THEIR BODIES HAD TO BE BURIED
AT SEA
FINALLY THEY WERE PICKED UP
BY AN MERCHANT SHIP, THE
“ATLANTA SEAMAN,” VERY
CLOSE TO NEW ORLEANS AND
TRANSFERRED TO A US COAST
GUARD VESSEL
OF THE 22 BRIGADE MEMBERS
TRYING TO ESCAPE, TEN LOST
THEIR LIVES
PRISONERS OF WAR
SURVIVAL
P O W „s
CAPTURED AFTER THE BATTLE
PRISONERS OF WAR
DEFEATED, BUT NEVER SURRENDER,
BRIGADE PRISONERS OF WAR MARCHING TO
A CENTRAL LOCATION TO BE TRANSPORTED
TO THE SPORTS ARENA IN HAVANA
THE END, DEFEATED AFTER RUNNING OUT
OF AMMUNITIONS, BUT NEVER
CAPITULATED, NOR SURRENDERED
PRISONERS OF WAR
Rebel Soldiers and
militia, celebrating
their victory in Giron,
not knowing that they
were closing for ever
the system of liberty
and rights existing in
Cuba before the
Revolution
Now a new system
was implanted, a
communist one, from
which some of these
happy soldiers had to
run away into exile or
paid with their lives
It was the tragic price
paid for, of their
victory in Giron
BRIGADE SOLDIERS AWAITING TRANSPORTATION
TO THE SPORTS PALACE FOR QUESTIONING,
AFTER SUFFERING HUMILLIATIONS AND THREATS
FROM THE CAPTORS
INTER-AMERICANA DE TRANSPORTE SEALED
CONTAINER, WHERE 9 BRIGADE MEMBERS DIED OF
ASPHYXIA WHILE BEEN TRANSPORTED FROM GIRON
TO THE SPORT PALACE IN HAVANA
MIKE PADRON, THE OWNER WAS PRISONER
IN THIS TRUCK
SPORTS PALACE IN HAVANA, POINT OF REUNION OF
ALL THE CAPTURED BRIGADE MEMBERS
INSIDE SPORTS PALACE
CAPTURED BRIGADE MEMBERS
DURING THE TELEVISION INTERVIEWS TRYING TO
HUMILLIATE THE BRIGADE MEMBERS
NOT A SINGLE
PRISONER BLAMED
THE UNITED STATES
FOR THE DEFEAT AND
MUCH LESS TREASON
THE PRINCIPLE CASTLE AND PRISON
THE MILITARY TRIAL
PATIO CENTRAL DEL CASTILLO DEL PRINCIPE
LOADING PACKAGES FOR THE BRIGADES POW‟s
Gloria Estefan father
MRS. CLOTILDE RODRIGUEZ, DONATING HER JEWLERY FOR THE RESCUE OF THE PRISONERS OF WAR
BERTA BARRETO WALKING THRU
THE HAVANA AIRPORT DURING HER
NEGOTIATIONS TO FREE THE
BRIGADE PRISONERS
WAR PRISONERS COMMITTEE
POW‟s COMMITTEE MAKING CONTACTS
ONE OF THE MANY
CONFERENCES GIVEN
BY THE POW‟s
COMMISSION IN
DIFFERENT PLACES
OF THE UNITED
STATES ASKING FOR
HELP
THE RETURN
U.S. RED CROSS
Pedro Ynigo Air Force mechanic
returning home
THE WOUNDED IN COMBAT RETURNING HOME
BRIGADE
MEMBER
KISSING THE
LAND OF THE
FREE UPON HIS
ARRIVAL TO
FREDOM, TO
THE RIGHT
STANDING IN A
BLACK SUIT,
MAYOR
ROBERT KING
OF DADE
COUNTY
MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
RETURN OF THE WOUNDED
WOUNDED BRIGADE
SOLDIERS
RETURNING TO
MIAMI AFTER
TWENTY TWO
MONTHS IN
CAPTIVITY AND
WITHOUT MEDICAL
ASSISTANCE
RECEIVING
TREATMENT AT
MERCY HOSPITAL
WAITING FOR THE SHIP ARENAL
NEGOCIATING COMMISSION
DEPARTING FOR CUBA
COMMEMORATIVE MEDALLION
SOLD TO COLLECT FUNDS FOR THE PRISONERS RETURN
RETURN TO HOMESTEAD AFB
DINNER KEY AUDITORIUM
CITY OF MIAMI
RETURNING BRIGADE
MEMBERS CELEBRATING THE
REUNION WITH OTHER
MEMBERS OF THE BRIGADE
THAT WERE ABLE TO ESCAPE
CUBA AFTER THE DEFEAT
THE ORANGE BOWL
President John Kennedy talking to the more than 20,000
Cuban gathered at the Orange Bowl, to welcome the Brigade
back to freedom
PRESIDENT KENNEDY WITH BRIGADE MEMBER MIRANDA, WHO RESCUED
THE BRIGADE FLAG AND BROUGHT IT TO MIAMI
NILDO ACEVEDO AND
PRESIDENT KENNEDY
FATHER LUGO PRESENTING THE BRIGADE FLAG TO
PRESIDENT KENNEDY FOR SAFEKEEPING AND HIS
PROMISE TO RETURN IT IN A FREE HAVANA
THE FIRST LADY JACQUELYN KENNEDY ADDRESSING
THE BAY OF PIGS VETERANS, AND HOPING THAT HER
SON WOULD BE AS BRAVE AS THE BRIGADE
SOLDIERS WHEN HE GREW OLDER
Father Lugo, chief
chaplain doing the
invocation at the Orange
Bowl
Jose Perez San Roman,
Brigade Commander
addressing the troops
CAPTAIN EDUARDO
FERRER C46 SQUADRON
COMMANDER WITH
PRESIDENT KENNEDY
DADE COUNTY MAYOR
ROBERT KING HIGH
WELOCOMING THE
BRIGADE TO MIAMI
Tank Company Commander Rodolfo Diaz
Hernandez, Tank Commander Fernando Torres
Mena, and civilian leader Manuel Artimes with
President Kennedy
RELATIVES OF BRIGADE
MEMBERS ARRIVING TO THE U.S.
AFTER THE RETURN OF THE
BRIGADE MEMBERS
CITIZEN OF THE FREE WORLD
HELP US BUILD OUR NEW MUSEUM IN ORDER TO KEEP ALIVE THE
HISTORY, FROM THE RECRUITING, TRAINNING, COMBAT, PRISON TO THE
RETURN TO THE LAND OF THE FREE
LETS US HAVE AN ADEQUATED PLACE, SO FUTURE GENERATIONS OF
AMERICANS, GET TO KNOW THE HISTORY AND EFFORTS OF A GROUP
OF CUBANS, THAT ABANDONED EVERY EARTHTLY BELONGINGS TO
ANSWER THE CALL TO FREEDOM OF THE MOTHERLAND
LET IT BE KNOWN THAT OUR DEFEAT, MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THIS
GREAT CITY OF MIAMI, IN WHICH WE LIVE, WORK, RAISED OUR FAMILIES
AND THAT IT WAS BUILT WITH THE SWEAT, TEARS AND TENACITY OF A
GROUP OF MEN THAT WANT TO RETURN HOME AND BE FREE