Erneido Oliva Erneido Andres Oliva Gonzalez ( Born 20 June 1932 in Aguacate , Cuba ) 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 , " the Cadet School . " After graduating with honors from the Artillery Academy in 1955 he was appointed professor of Artiller in the Cadet School until 1958 . From 1958 to 1959 he was a student , also graduating with honors , and an instructor at the US Army Caribbean School in the Canal Zone , Panama . In late 1959 after the Castro revolution overthrew General Batista , the Cuban army was " purged " , but Oliva was appointed General Inspector at the INRA . In May 1960 he was one of a group of former Cuban officers planning a campaign against the Castro regime . They were all graduates of Cuba ' s military academy . He left the army early in August 1960 and flew to Miami . On August 29 , 1960 , Oliva and about 40 young Cuban exiles , recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency were transported via CIA C - 54 aircraft to San Jose , Guatemala to perform guerrilla training that later became conventional . Oliva was appointed deputy commander of Brigade 2506 , the assault brigade of Cuban exile s , that landed at the Bay of Pigs on April 17 , 1961 under the command of Jose ( Pepe ) San Roman . San Roman landed at Playa Giron and Oliva , commanding a brigade task force , established a beachhead at Playa Larga about 20 miles east of Giron . After the Brigade had ceased fighting on April 19 , 1961 , due to lack of air support promised by the Kennedy administration , Oliva organized all the Brigade ' s men that were withdrawing to Playa Giron and , with men of the 2nd and 6th battalions , tried to reach the Escambray mountains . However , Castro ' s air attacks forced the Brigadistas to scatter into the woods and swamps near Girón . He was captured by Cuban militia on April 23 , 1961 . He was finally released from prison and flown to Miami on December 24 , 1962 after the U . S . Government paid a ransom of $ 500 , 000 for each of the three leaders of the Brigade . On December 29 , 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 . On behalf of the members of the Brigade , 1 , 500 of whom were in formation at the stadium , he presented the Brigade flag to the President who said : " Commander I assure you that this flag will be returned to this Brigade in a free Havana . " Since his arrival in the United States , Oliva developed a close relationship with U . S . Attorney General Robert F . Kennedy . Bobby Kennedey involved him 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 March 1963 Oliva was commissioned in the US Army as a second lieutenant and was appointed by President Kennedy to represent Cuban - American personnel serving throughout the US armed forces . In 1965 , he was promoted to Captain at the Pentagon by Cyrus Vance , then Secretary of Defense . The Special Army Training for the officers of Brigade 2506 was terminated by President Johnson two months after the assassination of President Kennedy . At the White House in February 1964 , in the presence of the then Attorney General , Robert Kennedy , President Johnson informed Oliva of his decision to end all Cuban anti - Castro projects sponosred by the government including the one led by Oliva in the U . S . Army . Oliva underwent infantry training at Fort Benning , Georgia , and artillery training at Fort Sill , Oklahoma . He participated in the U . S . intervention of the Dominican Republic where he served over a year . In 1969 , he requested to be transferred to the US Army Reserve . In 1970 , he joined the District of Columbia National Guard as a major . In August 1984 , Oliva was promoted to Brigadier General of the line in the US Army Reserve and commanded a Military Police Brigade . He earned a Masters Degree in International Affairs from the American University , Washington , DC and attended the Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security at Harvard University . In July 1987 , US President Ronald Reagan , appointed him to the position of Deputy Commanding General of the D . C . Army National Guard . In December 1992 , he was promoted to Major General in the District of Colombia Army National Guard . Since retirement on January 1 , 1993 , Oliva has remained active in the anti - Castro effort , though largely steering clear of exile politics . In 1996 , he founded the private Cuban - American Military Council ( CAMCO ) , to promote cooperation between all Cuban military veterans , whether members of the Brigade 2506 , the US Army or the Cuban army under Batista or Castro . Oliva has been a member of all four . In January 2008 , was honored with the Heritage Award , a nationally recognized award of Heroes and Heritage which was presented to him by the Vice - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . He was later appointed by President George W . Bush to serve as a member of the Board of Governors of the United States Organizations , Incorporated ( USO ) for a three year term . Oliva lives with his wife , Graciela Ana Portela Avila , in the Washington Metropolitan Area . They have a daughter and a son and two grandsons .