sitting ducks. Castro’s forces mounted sustained attacks and by the end of the day on April 17 had effectively crippled the invasion. Kennedy, under pressure to authorize American air strikes from the nearby carrier Essex, refused. On the afternoon of April 18 the invasion force surrendered, having lost over 100 men killed and nearly 400 wounded. Kennedy was shattered by the fiasco. “How could I have been so stupid?” he repeatedly asked his advisers.25
