(2 of 3)
Over the beach the B-26 force was shattered by Castro's T-33 jet trainers. Offshore stood at least one U.S. aircraft carrier, and its jet fighters might have been enough, even that late, to reverse the outcome—but they remained on the sidelines. The invaders' appeals for help—"Mad Dog Four, May Day, Red Beach" —went unheeded. According to the official version, the U.S. Navy was there to defend the invasion ships in case they were discovered and attacked in international waters—it was not supposed to aid the landing.
A final plea for help went out from the invasion force's Colonel José Pérez San Román. It was denied. In a burst of futile anger, San Román cried back into his radio "And you, sir, are a son of a bitch."
40 Minutes on Target. From the known and undenied facts, two unpleasant conclusions emerge:
¶ If the score of B-26s was indeed the only air cover contemplated for the invasion, then the U.S. planners, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff (who reportedly okayed the plan), stand convicted of incompetence. They knew that Castro had a force of T-33s, and they also knew that after the long flight from Puerto Cabezas the B-26s would have only enough fuel left to keep aloft for 40 minutes over the target area.
¶ In spite of the gross inadequacy of the B-26 air cover plans to begin with, the operations originally scheduled were drastically curtailed on orders from President Kennedy.
"Rewriting History." Bobby Kennedy's oversimplified statement of the case stirred up strong reactions. In a TV interview, Dwight Eisenhower shrugged off any blame for the fiasco, said that his Administration had contemplated no more than support for a "guerrilla type of action" in the Cuban mountains. (At least two plans had been talked up in the Eisenhower days—a guerrilla type of action, and a direct invasion with U.S. air and logistics support. The final decision fell to Kennedy.)
In the Senate, Minority Leader Everett McKinley Dirksen promised a personal investigation, with the blessing of the Republican Policy Committee. "Cuba is very much unfinished business," he said. Arizona's Barry Goldwater demanded an investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee, charged Bobby Kennedy and the Administration with attempts at "the rewriting of history." Georgia's Senator Richard Russell, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, retorted that he saw no useful purpose in "relaundering this linen—though I'll confess it has never seemed very clean."
Under Russian Occupation. The Administration was beset by other Cuban embarrassments last week. U.S. newspapers reported an intensive buildup of Soviet strength on the island. According to some accounts, upwards of 20,000 Soviet troops are still in Cuba. Construction of underground depots, heavy pillboxes, hangars and runways is moving ahead rapidly under Russian supervision. The island's antiaircraft missile defenses are being strengthened. Cuba is virtually under Russian occupation. In Havana's harbor lie a dozen ships flying the hammer and sickle. Cuban shoppers buy Russian canned foods. Plaques and pictures praise "martyrs of the proletariat." Tens of thousands of children are being indoctrinated with Communist propaganda.