Cayo Piedra, Republic of CubaA
s the sun was just beginning to creep up over the eastern horizon, a rattletrap Russian-made Mi-8 helicopter drilled lazy circles over a long strip of white sand beach near the Bay of Pigs. The pilots were waiting for permission to approach El Supremo Fidel Castro’s very secure private island located about 10 miles off Cuba’s southwest coast. The island was called Cayo Piedra by the few locals who knew of its existence but the trusted aviators allowed to fly into the heavily guarded complex called it Punto Cero, Ground Zero. The veteran pilots flying this classified mission for Military Intelligence knew the drill. You called for clearance from the standing guard force and then circled until it was given. Any aircraft—friendly or otherwise—that didn’t was su
