JFK REPORTS NEWS ON CUBA "GROWS WORSE"
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) 53 years ago today, April 20, 1961, after the government of Cuba announced that the invasion force which landed at the Bay of Pigs on April 17 had been defeated, President John F. Kennedy addressed the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
While the President did not publicly disclose any role in the invasion by the United States, he did report that...
"On that unhappy island....the news grows worse instead of better."
He reminded his audience that:
"this was a struggle of Cuban patriots against a Cuban dictator"
and that
"we made it clear that the armed forces of this country would not intervene in any way."
President Kennedy differed with Fidel Castro on the use of the word "mercenary" by giving the illustration that...
"When the rebel commander on the beach was given the opportunity to surrender, he replied: 'I will never leave this island.' That is not the reply of a mercenary."
Regarding communism in Cuba, JFK went on to say:
"(The) American people are not complacent about Iron Curtain tanks and planes less that 90 miles from their shore."
A Somber Moment for JFK
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) 53 years ago today, April 20, 1961, after the government of Cuba announced that the invasion force which landed at the Bay of Pigs on April 17 had been defeated, President John F. Kennedy addressed the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
While the President did not publicly disclose any role in the invasion by the United States, he did report that...
"On that unhappy island....the news grows worse instead of better."
He reminded his audience that:
"this was a struggle of Cuban patriots against a Cuban dictator"
and that
"we made it clear that the armed forces of this country would not intervene in any way."
President Kennedy differed with Fidel Castro on the use of the word "mercenary" by giving the illustration that...
"When the rebel commander on the beach was given the opportunity to surrender, he replied: 'I will never leave this island.' That is not the reply of a mercenary."
Regarding communism in Cuba, JFK went on to say:
"(The) American people are not complacent about Iron Curtain tanks and planes less that 90 miles from their shore."
A Somber Moment for JFK
