On April 17, in 1961, the CIA sponsored a task force of Cuban refugees to attack Cuba to overthrow the dictatorship of Fidel Castro, which was known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion. America began to concern itself over Cuba when Fidel Castro seized power with a revolution in 1959. He formed a close relationship with the USSR, preached anti-American sentiment, and damaged US companies that had financial interests in Cuba. Needless to say, Castro was a great threat to democracy, capitalism, and the safety of the American people.

Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the CIA to create a program to recruit and train Cuban exiles to invade Cuba. John F. Kennedy then oversaw the program when he took office. Around 1,200 Cuban exiles were armed with American weapons and transported in American boats to the shore of the Bay of Pigs, although Kennedy’s military advisers saw this plan to be a likely failure. The purpose of the mission was to start an uprising in the island nation to overthrow Castro with all of the Cuban people, not just the original 1,200.

Castro’s forces, however, had quickly assessed the threat to their leader and began to defend against the wretched traitors to their nation. American supply boats were destroyed and further air support was denied, leaving the soldiers there for dead. Over 100 died and the rest were captured. Castro solidified his power in Cuba by speaking of the attack fomented by the “Yankee imperialists.” By requesting more defensive aid by the USSR, they eventually brought nuclear warheads into Cuba, sparking the Cuban Missile Crisis.