Office of the Historian

103. Memorandum for the Record0

Washington, April 15, 1961.

SUBJECT

  • Air Branch1 [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] Combat Mission Report2

Santiago

Both aircraft returned to base safely. Pilots reported airfield completely destroyed and fires everywhere. One B-26 reported destroyed by rockets, one T-33 probably destroyed by .50 calibre fire, and one C-47 destroyed by .50 calibre fire. All aircraft on ramp reported afire. AAA reported as heavy and determined. Aircraft repeatedly exchanged fire with AAA positions until AAA ceased. One aircraft returned base with numerous holes, complete hydraulic failure and one hung rocket. However, landed without incident.

San Antonio

Two aircraft returned base safely and pilots reported attack destroyed 75 per cent of field. Operations building was destroyed and [Page 228] one T-33 on alert exploded. Two additional T-33ʼs were possibly destroyed. Smoke from bombs partially obliterated target and precluded accurate damage assessment. Heavy AAA was reported. One aircraft landed at Grand Cayman Island because of low fuel.

Libertad

One aircraft returned to base safely and pilot reported target partially destroyed. All bombs fell within confines of the base. (Press reports stated one bomb scored direct hit on an Air Force ammunition dump and explosions were still occurring 30 minutes after the attack.) Heavy AAA was reported. One aircraft was damaged by AAA and forced to feather engine which was on fire. Companion aircraft accompanied toward Key West but observed damaged aircraft in uncontrolled crash into ocean. No parachutes or survivors were observed. Second aircraft, now low on fuel, continued to Florida and landed at Boca Chica. Extent of damage not yet determined.

Special Aircraft

The special aircraft landed at destination as planned.3

Airborne Spare

One airborne spare aircraft aborted on take-off due to engine trouble.

Stanley W. Beerli4
Colonel, USAF
Acting Chief, DPD-DD/P
  1. Source: Central Intelligence Agency, DCI Files: Job 85-00664R, Box 4, Vol. I. No classification marking.↩
  2. Air Branch was handwritten on the source text above the excised material.↩
  3. According to Bissellʼs memoirs, he was instructed by President Kennedy on April 14 to “play down the magnitude of the invasion,” and to reduce the scale of the initial air strike and make it “minimal.” Bissellʼs impression was that the President issued this instruction without consulting the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the Secretary of Defense. Acting on the Presidentʼs instruction, Bissell cut the size of the air strike for April 15 from 16 aircraft to 8. (Richard M. Bissell, Jr., Reflections of a Cold Warrior (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996), page 183)↩
  4. An apparent reference to the B-26 bomber bearing the markings of the Cuban Air Force, which landed at Key West on April 15; see Document 102.↩
  5. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩