It was the dark of night, but sealed in a windowless van, bumping along back roads through the Everglades for three hours, the 10 men sweltered in the humid South Florida heat.

The van stopped. The door flew open to reveal a fishing pier. Scrambling into a launch, they headed out to sea, the breeze a welcome relief, the light of a quarter moon dimly illuminating their destination: a low, overgrown island. There they were met by three men with rifles who escorted them to a shack behind the remains of an abandoned resort.

This was Useppa Island, just off Florida’s west coast near Fort Myers. The date was June 2, 1960. And for these 10 Cuban exiles, it was the start