New Delhi, April 16 -- Manuel Portuondo was still a teenager in 1960 when his family, like thousands of others, fled Cuba for Miami, following the culmination of the Cuban Revolution a year earlier.

Soon after, while still attending school, Portuondo learned of a military force of Cuban refugees being organized by the United States government. He and several classmates decided to enlist.

"As an 18-year-old with a lot of ideals and a big heart, I wanted to be back in my country and be free and be able to do what I wanted," Portuondo said. "I enrolled in the invasion and shipped to Guatemala for training."

Remembering the invasion

About 1,500 Cuban exiles, with the backing of the CIA, attempted to invade the island nation at the Bay of ...