JOHNSON : The Bay of Pigs (fülszöveg)
After the crushing defeat at the Bay of Pigs, the Cubans who were selected by the C.I.A. to lead Brigade 2506 on its invasion of Cuba were held by Castro for $500,000 ransom each. In late 1962 they were released from prison and have here told their stories exclusively to Haynes Johnson, author of this book. This is the complete story of the Bay of Pigs, the story that could not be told until now.
In April, 1961, fifteen hundred Cuban patriots went ashore at the Bay of Pigs against 100,000 Castro troops. Brigade 2506, as they were called, had been recruited, trained, equipped, and transported by agents of the C.I.A. Their battle plan had been drawn by the C.I.A. and approved by the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. They had been told to fight their way inland to the main road and then turn left to Havana.
They were told that if they ran into trouble, U. S. forces would go ashore. And, they were told to go ahead and invade even if the President ordered the invasion canceled.
Defeat was inevitable. The battle plan suffered from faulty intelligence, ignorance of underwater terrain, bad logistical planning by the C.I.A.; and the men fought without the air support that had been promised and was repeatedly promised throughout the battle. Brigade 2506 fought magnificently against colossal odds, and surrendered only after their supply ships vanished and their ammunition was gone. The survivors were in prison for nearly two years.
Historically the brief story of Brigade 2506 was a tragedy. In terms of individual and group heroism, dedication to principle, self-sacrifice, and pure adventure it is a stirring tale. There is, however, a darker side — one which could not have been told, even to the highest authorities, until the leaders of the Brigade were released from Castro's prisons. Until now, all that could be known was the incomplete, official, U.S. account, surrounded by rumors.
Here is the full story at last — the inside account of what really went on at the White House meetings where the agony of decision was endured (the decision to invade, the close decision against commitment of U. S. troops), and in the councils of the C.I.A. and the Pentagon. Here is the story of the secret camps in Guatemala, of the beaches, of the swamps, and of the prisons of Havana. Here is the first authentic account of the ransom meetings between Castro and James Donovan. In all, and in detail, it is a heroic tale and a shocking revelation.
Mr. Johnson worked from hundreds of thousands of words of recorded interviews with the Cuban leaders and hundreds of their men. His information about the key decisions in Washington comes from unimpeachable sources.
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| KATALÓGUS | TARTALOM |
