Between April 17 and 19, 1961, approximately 1,400 Cuban exiles trained and equipped by the CIA attempted an amphibious invasion of Cuba at Playa Girón (Bay of Pigs). The operation was planned under the Eisenhower administration and executed under President Kennedy, who declined to authorise US air cover on the day of the landing. The invasion failed within 72 hours: approximately 114 Brigade 2506 members were killed and 1,189 were captured. The CIA's own internal review — the 1961 Kirkpatrick Report — acknowledged planning failures. The operation is now fully declassified and confirmed through NARA archives, the National Security Archive, and multiple government inquiries.