'Forgotten' Bay of Pigs invaders want their story told

Bellingham Herald
By LUISA YANEZ 

 Five decades ago, it seemed a fair trade. The United States gave Cuba $53 million worth of medicine and food in exchange for the release of Brigade 2506 fighters who languished in prison for 20 months following their capture in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.
While front-page photos and headlines captured teary family reunions in Miami, following after their release on Christmas Eve 1962, nine brigadistas stayed locked up in Cuban cells.
The men call themselves the "Forgotten Brigadistas." They fell off the radar because when they were captured, they kept their affiliation with the invading brigade hidden from Cuban authorities and were excluded from negotiations that won the release of the others.

But as the exile community commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion, the forgotten nine want their story told.

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