The veterans of the Bay of Pigs invasion of 49 years ago this week are not heroes just because of how they fought on the beaches and in the swamps near Girón, but more because of how they carried themselves every day since — with dignity, with honor and with an ever-burning passion for a free Cuba.
They and their compatriots who died, fought with valor, especially after they realized that promises made by their American sponsors had been broken by those at the highest level in Washington.
Outnumbered by Fidel Castro's forces and out of ammunition, the men of the 2506 Assault Brigade did not surrender, the survivors will tell you today, they were captured.
After more than 20 years in the news business, I am rarely in the awe of newsmakers. But I was transfixed for more than hour this past Saturday during a Bay of Pigs anniversary event at the Casa Cuba in Tampa, as 16 veterans of the 2506 Brigade shared their stories about their respective roles in the invasion and their fellow fighters who died; their anger at President John Kennedy for breaking promises made to them; how many of them, despite that betrayal went on to serve the United States as soldiers, Marines and spies; and how today they continue to fight for freedom for Cuba.
In only a few moments, I understood that we were in the presence of greatness, in the presence of patriots, in the presence of true heroes.
The Bay of Pigs invasion ended badly, but it would be incorrect to say the mission of the 2506 Brigade failed because as long as there is a dictatorship in Havana, the mission is not over.
The fight for freedom is being waged on the streets of Havana and Guantánamo; from computer terminals in tourist hotels; and in the prison cells of the Castro gulag.
And it is being fought in exile, by human rights activists and bloggers bound to Cuba by our blood, by our love of freedom and by our desire to do whatever we can to help complete what the 2506 Brigade started.
The veterans of the 2506 Brigade are not just the men of history books. They are still fighting, and inspiring others to do the same.
No matter how hard we try, there is a lot about the men of the 2506 Brigade we will never be. Listening to their "war stories," I know I could never do what they did. They were cut from a different cloth than most men.
But as we carry forth with the mission for a free Cuba, we can and we must follow their example and until that freedom is accomplished, never give up and never surrender.
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