Sixty years ago JFK was murdered in broad daylight, a moment that shattered the public’s trust in the federal government forever!

There are two dates that many people of my age remember. The first is the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (JFK) in Dallas, Texas on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST. The second is the attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon by al Qaeda on September 11th, 2001 at 10:03 a.m. EDT.

Sixty yearse ago today, JFK was murdered in broad daylight, a moment that would alter the trajectory of American history and shatter the public's trust in the federal government. Today, the same intel agencies whose fingerprints are all over JFK's assassination are more… pic.twitter.com/ju8W79tbnz

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 22, 2023

On that day President John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas.

Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife, Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally’s wife, Nellie.

I remember being in college at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. I was at my desk when the Dean walked into the classroom and said, “President Kennedy has been shot. All classes are canceled.”

I went home to watch the video of President Kennedy murdered. I remember that I, my family and the nation were stunned. JFK was my idol. A man who had served this nation during WW II in the U.S. Navy on the famous PT-109 torpedo boat.

JFK was a family man who said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

JFK was a life member of the National Rifle Association. He introduced the AR-15 rifle into the military inventory, a rifle that I carried into combat in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division.

The CIA Murdered JFK

On December 18th, 2022 I learned that our own Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was involved in JFK’s assassination.

Watch Fox News host Tucker Carlson give his take on a source saying the CIA was involved in JFK’s assassination,

With this stunning revelation, as a military veteran, I am now asking myself did the CIA purposefully botch (ruin through clumsiness or ineptitude) the Bay of Pigs invasion, which led to the Cuban Missile Crisis?

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum has this to say about the April 17, 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion:

ON APRIL 17, 1961, 1,400 CUBAN EXILES LAUNCHED WHAT BECAME A BOTCHED INVASION AT THE BAY OF PIGS ON THE SOUTH COAST OF CUBA.

In 1959, Fidel Castro came to power in an armed revolt that overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. The US government distrusted Castro and was wary of his relationship with Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union.

Before his inauguration, John F. Kennedy was briefed on a plan by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) developed during the Eisenhower administration to train Cuban exiles for an invasion of their homeland. The plan anticipated that the Cuban people and elements of the Cuban military would support the invasion. The ultimate goal was the overthrow of Castro and the establishment of a non-communist government friendly to the United States.

[ … ]

José Miró Cardona led the anti-Castro Cuban exiles in the United States. A former member of Castro’s government, he was the head of the Cuban Revolutionary Council, an exile committee. Cardona was poised to take over the provisional presidency of Cuba if the invasion succeeded.

[ … ]

The Plan

The original invasion plan called for two air strikes against Cuban air bases. A 1,400-man invasion force would disembark under cover of darkness and launch a surprise attack. Paratroopers dropped in advance of the invasion would disrupt transportation and repel Cuban forces. Simultaneously, a smaller force would land on the east coast of Cuba to create confusion.

The main force would advance across the island to Matanzas and set up a defensive position. The United Revolutionary Front would send leaders from South Florida and establish a provisional government. The success of the plan depended on the Cuban population joining the invaders.

The Invasion

The first mishap occurred on April 15, 1961, when eight bombers left Nicaragua to bomb Cuban airfields.

The CIA had used obsolete World War II B-26 bombers, and painted them to look like Cuban air force planes. The bombers missed many of their targets and left most of Castro’s air force intact. As news broke of the attack, photos of the repainted U.S. planes became public and revealed American support for the invasion. President Kennedy cancelled a second air strike.

On April 17, the Cuban-exile invasion force, known as Brigade 2506, landed at beaches along the Bay of Pigs and immediately came under heavy fire. Cuban planes strafed the invaders, sank two escort ships, and destroyed half of the exile’s air support. Bad weather hampered the ground force, which had to work with soggy equipment and insufficient ammunition.

The Counterattack

Over the next 24 hours, Castro ordered roughly 20,000 troops to advance toward the beach, and the Cuban air force continued to control the skies. As the situation grew increasingly grim, President Kennedy authorized an “air-umbrella” at dawn on April 19—six unmarked American fighter planes took off to help defend the brigade’s B-26 aircraft flying. But the planes arrived an hour late, most likely confused by the change in time zones between Nicaragua and Cuba. They were shot down by the Cubans, and the invasion was crushed later that day.

Some exiles escaped to the sea, while the rest were killed or rounded up and imprisoned by Castro’s forces. Almost 1,200 members of Brigade 2506 surrendered, and more than 100 were killed.

Read the full article.

So this CIA plan failed for three reasons,

1. The CIA had used obsolete World War II B-26 bombers, and painted them to look like Cuban air force planes. The bombers missed many of their targets and left most of Castro’s air force intact.
2. [P]hotos of the repainted U.S. planes became public and revealed American support for the invasion. President Kennedy cancelled a second air strike.
3. President Kennedy authorized an “air-umbrella” at dawn on April 19—six unmarked American fighter planes took off to help defend the brigade’s B-26 aircraft flying. But the planes arrived an hour late, most likely confused by the change in time zones between Nicaragua and Cuba. They were shot down by the Cubans, and the invasion was crushed later that day.

So, in March 1960 the CIA, under President Eisenhower, created the plan to invade Cuba in order to overthrow Fidel Castro. The CIA then briefed President Kennedy on the plan before his inauguration and JFK gave the CIA a green light to implement it.

My take is that the CIA botched the invasion (obsolete aircraft, leaked photos, wrong time zones) to embarrass the incoming president on the world stage with his first major act in office. This gave Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, the upper hand in national security allowing the Russians to ship intercontinental ballistic missiles to Cuba.

This then led to the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis followed by JFK’s assassination on Friday, November 22, 1963.

Did the CIA have it in for JFK?

©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

EDITORS NOTE:

Following the passage of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, records related to President Kennedy’s assassination were transferred to the National Archives in College Park, MD. Researchers interested in the October 26, 2017 release of documents from the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection should contact the National Archives at College Park. Information from the National Archives regarding the October 26, 2017 records release: https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/nr18-05

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