Erneido Oliva
| Erneido Oliva | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 20, 1932 Aguacate, Cuba |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1963 — 1993 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Unit | Brigade 2506 District of Columbia Army National Guard |
| Battles/wars | Bay of Pigs Invasion Operation Mongoose Vietnam War |
Erneido Andres Oliva Gonzalez[1] (Born 20 June 1932 in Aguacate, Cuba)[2] is a Cuban-American who was the deputy commander of Brigade 2506 land forces in the abortive Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba in April 1961.
In 1954 Oliva was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Cuban Army after graduating from the Cuban Military Academy. From 1955 to 1958 he was a Military Academy artillery instructor. From 1958 to 1959 he was a student and instructor at the US Army Caribbean School in Panama. In late 1959 the Cuban army was "purged", and he then left Cuba. In May 1960 he was one of a group of ten former Cuban officers in Miami planning a campaign against the Castro regime. They were all graduates of Cuba's military academy, the Cadet School. On 2 June 1960, Oliva and nine fellow recruits were transported by Central Intelligence Agency agents to Useppa Island off Fort Myers, Florida, for physical and psychological assessments. On 22 June 1960 Oliva and 27 others were taken by land and air to Fort Gulick in Panama for paramilitary training. On 22 August 1960 he flew via CIA C-54 aircraft to San Jose, Guatemala.[3]
He was appointed deputy commander of Brigade 2506, the assault brigade of Cuban exiles, under Pepe San Roman, and went ashore at Playa Larga during the Bay of Pigs Invasion on 17 April 1961. After the Brigade had ceased fighting on 19 April 1961, Oliva and his men of the 2nd and 6th battalions scattered into the woods and swamps near Girón.[4] He was captured by Cuban militia on 23 April 1961. He was finally released from prison and flown to Miami on 24 December 1962. On 29 December 1962, Oliva was on stage next to the US President, John F. Kennedy, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, during the 'welcome back' ceremony for ransomed Brigade 2506 veterans and he addressed the veterans.[5] He became involved in the Cuban Project (Operation Mongoose), a White House-organized counterrevolutionary unit led by Manuel Artime based in Costa Rica and Nicaragua that staged commando raids on Cuban shore installations. In 1963 he was commissioned in the US Army and was appointed to represent Cuban-American personnel in the US armed forces. He underwent artillery training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and in January 1964 developed a political relationship with US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. In August 1984, Oliva was promoted to Brigadier General in the US Army Reserve. In July 1987, US President Ronald Reagan, appointed him to the position of Deputy Commanding General of the D.C. National Guard. In December 1992, he was promoted to Major General in the US Army Reserve. Since retirement on 1 January 1993, he has remained active in the anti-Castro effort, though largely steering clear of exile politics.[6] In 1996, he founded the private Cuban-American Military Council (CAMCO), to promote cooperation between all Cuban military veterans, whether Brigade 2506, the US Army or the Cuban army under Batista or Castro. Oliva has been a member of all four. In January 2008, Oliva was among those to endorse John McCain's candidacy for the office of US President.[7] He lives with his wife, Graciela Ana Portela Avila, in Fort Washington, Maryland. They have two grown children.[2]
[edit] Notes
- ^ List of Participants Of The Bay Of Pigs Invasion http://cuban-exile.com/doc_026-050/doc0035.html
- ^ a b Bohning, Don. Miami Herald. 2000-04-16. http://www.autentico.org/oa09425.php
- ^ Johnson (1964)
- ^ Wyden (1979)
- ^ Johnson (1964), p.32
- ^ Marquis, Christopher. Miami Herald 1998-03-29 http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y98/mar98/30e6.htm accessed 2009-03-19
- ^ http://republicancandidates.blogspot.com/2008/01/major-general-erneido-oliva-endorses.html
[edit] References
- Johnson, Haynes. 1964. The Bay of Pigs: The Leaders' Story of Brigade 2506. W.W. Norton & Co Inc. New York. ISBN 0393042634
- Lynch, Grayston L. 1998. Decision for Disaster: Betrayal at the Bay of Pigs. Bassey's. Washington. ISBN 1-57488-237-6
- Rodriguez, Juan Carlos. 1999. Bay of Pigs and the CIA. Ocean Press Melbourne. ISBN 1875284982
- Wyden, Peter. 1979. Bay of Pigs - The Untold Story. Simon and Schuster. New York. ISBN 0671240064 ISBN 0224017543 ISBN 978-0671240066
