FIRST GROUP OF CUBAN POWS FREED BY CASTRO
Havana, Cuba (JFK+50) On December 23, 1962, Cuba's Premier Fidel Castro released the first group of prisoners captured during the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion of April 1961.
According to the BBC, 107 freedom fighters boarded a Pan American DC6 airliner at "a military airbase near Havana." By the end of the following day, 1,113 POWS had been returned safely to the United States.
Arriving in Miami by several flights over a two day period, the released prisoners were greeted by 10,000 Cuban exiles.
Their release had been gained through negotiations with $53 million in food and medicines, provided by companies in the United States, to be sent to the Cuban government.
The CIA plan to overthrow Castro was approved by both Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy.
SOURCE
"1962: Bay of Pigs prisoners fly to freedom," On This Day: 24 December, www.bbc.co.uk/
