Brigade 2506: Young, Idealistic, and anti-Castro

This thesis received 2nd place at the 2011 OSU-Lima Undergraduate Research ForumMy research is a continuation of a History 699 project that I completed last spring. The topic that I am studying is Brigade 2506, the group of Cuban exiles who carried out the Bay of Pigs Invasion. During the course of this year, I have continued to read books pertaining to the Bay of Pigs as well as conducting two interviews with Bay of Pigs veteran Dr. Mario Abril. Dr. Abril revealed that exile participation was largely based on the threat of a communist government under Fidel Castro. Dr. Abril provided me with a list of Brigade veterans that he believes was compiled by the Bay of Pigs Veteran’s Association in Miami. The list provides information about age, profession, and marital status, just to name a few. After analyzing the transcripts from the interviews, the Brigade list, and other materials that I’ve accumulated in the past year, I conclude that Brigade 2506 was a military unit comprised mostly of young and idealistic men, unhappy with the political situation at the time, and vehemently opposed to communism. Most soldiers were also from the middle and upper classes of Cuban society and few Afro-Cubans participated in the invasion. They were not enticed by financial gain but rather motivated by a commitment to toppling the Castro regime.No embarg