TIL that despite US denial for 26 years, eight members of the Alabama Air National Guard volunteered to pose as Cuban rebel pilots during the Bay of Pigs invasion. Of these 8, 4 were killed when promised air cover never arrived, with two of the pilots dying in a firefight after being shot down.

stupidname91919: The Cubans kept their uniforms as proof of the US backing of the invasion.

Bigtimehardees: This was by definition a conspiracy. People talked about this for years before it became declassified and were ridiculed being called conspiracy theorist nut jobs. Not all conspiracy theories are crazy…but a lot are.

sgtpepper_spray: A summary:

>The pilots were part of 60 Alabama Air National Guardsmen attached to the CIA to train Cuban exiles in flying the same model of bomber used by the Cuban Air Force. The intent was both to provide air cover for the ground assault and create the impression that Cuban military pilots were staging a rebellion, hopefully causing others to revolt. However, the ex-pat Cuban pilots took heavy losses in the first day of combat, prompting the eight Alabama guardsmen to volunteer for combat flights. If caught, they would be disavowed as mercenaries and left to Casto’s mercy. They were supposed to deploy with US jets from a nearby carrier covering them, but the jets never arrived.

ItA11FallsDown: I’m in the Alabama Air National Guard and this is a really cool fact

TriggerMeFam: Any movies about this?

kawhi-not: Why did US air support never come? I’m getting Serenity Valley images from this.

daoldmanvillage2: The US really is the biggest terrorist organization in the world.

Trentski33: Wasn’t this in the original black ops campaign?

flabsatron: Does that mean a life starts before conception?

Sweetum45: Fucking typical…

chumppi: They volunteered because of 26 years of US denial?

O_Gordinho_Gostoso: It’s too bad they weren’t all killed