DATE=8/20/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=BAY OF PIGS MONUMENT
NUMBER=5-44101
BYLINE=MICHAEL BOWMAN
DATELINE=MIAMI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Miami, Cuban exiles have announced plans to
construct a monument to honor pilots who were killed
while taking part in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion
of 1961. V-O-A's Michael Bowman has details.
TEXT: Amado Cantillo was one of 72 pilots the U-S
Central Intelligence Agency trained in Guatemala in
the months leading up to the Bay of Pigs invasion.
The pilot's mission was to bomb selected targets in
Cuba and to provide air support for the 1500 exiles
who landed on the island. Mr. Cantillo flew a B-26
twin-propeller plane the C-I-A disguised so as to
appear that it belonged to the Cuban airforce. Mr.
Cantillo survived the disastrous campaign, but says he
often thinks about his fellow-pilots who did not: the
10 Cubans and 4 Americans who died attempting to oust
the government of Fidel Castro from Cuba.
Mr. Cantillo says the pilots who lost their lives
deserve to be remembered.
// CANTILLO ACT //
Let's build a monument - with an original B-26
aircraft - for these brave pilots. And let's
not forget this historic event.
// END ACT //
The monument will feature a B-26 plane donated by a U-
S Air Force museum in California, as well as plaques
bearing the names of the 14 deceased pilots. With
financial support from the Bacardi-Martini Beverage
Company, the monument will be constructed at an
airfield south of Miami and is to be completed by
April of next year - the 39th anniversary of the ill-
fated invasion.
Bay of Pigs veteran pilot Amado Cantillo says the fact
that the 1961 campaign failed does not invalidate the
sacrifices or the motivations of those who took part
in the effort.
// ANTILLO ACT /
We lost. When you lose, a lot of people don't
want to remember. But we do want to remember.
We want other people to know what happened and
why we lost. Remember, we were fighting for
democracy - not only for Cuba - but (also) for
the rest of Latin America.
// END ACT //
Not everyone who supports the monument's construction
was born in Cuba. Janet Ray Weininger, a native of
(the southern state of) Alabama, is the daughter of
the late Thomas Ray, one of four American pilots who
were killed flying missions over Cuba. Thomas Ray
belonged to the Alabama Air Guard, and was recruited
by the C-I-A for the Bay of Pigs mission. He was shot
down while attempting to bomb Fidel Castro's
headquarters and executed by Cuban security forces.
Janet Ray Weininger says her father knew the risk he
was taking.
// WEININGER ACT //
He said, `If we don't stop communism in Cuba,
(then) one day we will have to fight it in our
own backyard.' That was his way of telling why
he was going to die, most likely, in a country
that was not his own.
// END ACT //
// BEGIN OPT // Historians continue to argue over who
was primarily responsibility for the failure of the
Bay of Pigs invasion. Some point to President John F.
Kennedy, who gave final approval for the campaign
within months of taking office. Some blame the
president's advisors. Others blame the C-I-A. Ms.
Weininger says, regardless of where the blame falls,
there is a clear lesson to be learned from the event:
// WEININGER ACT //
When our government and our politicians make the
decision to send a man or woman into war, then,
by God, they better support them 110-percent -
as though it was their own children (who would
be fighting).
// END ACT // END OPT //
The Bay of Pigs invasion became a diplomatic nightmare
for the United States - and provided the Cuban
government with a public relations bonanza, both at
home and on the world stage. Many Cuban exiles that
took part in the invasion remain bitter about the way
it was executed and its ultimate failure. But they
say they take solace from the fact the memories of
some of their fallen brothers-in-arms will be
preserved when construction of the monument is
completed. (SIGNED)
NEB/MCB/ENE/KL
20-Aug-1999 14:13 PM EDT (20-Aug-1999 1813 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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