MUSEUM AND LIBRARY

OF THE

BAY OF PIGS VETERANS

ASOCIATION

BRIGADE 2506

JOSE PEREZ SAN ROMAN

BRIGADE COMMANDER

By ESTEBAN L. BOVO-CARAS

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Flag_of_Cuba.svg

FLAG AND COAT

OF ARMS OF THE

2506 ASSAULT

BRIGADE

MIAMI 1959

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

MIAMI 2009