Today is the 45th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs exile invasion of Cuba. Back in 1961, when John F. Kennedy was president, an organized group of Miami Cuban exiles trained as a brigade around Central America and elsewhere and tried to retake their island from the murderous regime of Fidel Castro during his first years in power.

Castro in those early years first claimed he was a democrat, and then rapidly instituted an orgy of bloodshed, slamming 3,000 Cubans up against the wall as “enemies of the people” and shooting them dead, including many children, without trial or due process. He did it in the name of communism, something in the early days that he repeatedly denied that he was – until it was too late. Needless to say, these were innocent people killed in cold blood. He also expropriated all property and then slammed the doors shut on citizens exiting the country, turning the entire island into a prison.

Although some may debate whether force is the way to accomplish a democratic revolution, such arguments were not well known back in 1961. And the tyranny at the time was much more open and blatant, not even PRETENDING to be anything else but brutal tyranny under the name of Soviet-style communism.

Cubans at that time felt they had to organize to retake their island. It started during the Eisenhower administration but the Kennedy administration also supported the effort. The exiles trained with the Americans in the jungles of Nicaragua, and then set sail for an invasion at the Bay of Pigs in 1961.

Unfortunately, Kennedy got cold feet and rather than call off the invasion, allowed it to proceed without crucial air support. The net result: a terrible failure, with many who died on this day, and many more who were captured and thrown into Castro’s dungeons. Today, many in Miami remember those who tried to resist communism in that failed but noble effort.

The roundup of different veterans honored is on Babalu blog here.

UPDATE: Oscar Corral has more poignant thoughts about this here.

UPDATE: Dean Esmay has more thoughtful perspective here.

Hat tip: Memeorandum

UPDATE: Another excellent post by Bill at INDC Journal can be read here.