◆ SpookStack

Perhaps the most serious chqrge leveled by Robert Kennedy in the course of his 21 January 1963 interview with the Miami Herald was his reference to Castro's T-33's. According to the President's brother, "We underestimated what a T-33 carrying rockets could do..•. It wasn't given sufficient thought. They caused us a great deal of trouble." 141/ As has al- ready been demonstrated and'as evidenced by the cable exchanges-between the field and Headquarters, there was little question in the minds of the JMATE/DPD principals (Esterline, Hawkins, Thorsrud, Gaines, among others) that the T-33's could make or break the inva- sion.* Similarly former JMATE personnel found little to commend in Robert Kennedy's additional comments when he stated: * Hawkins did appear to waffle a bit during the Taylor Committee hearings on the question of the T-33. During an undated conversation with an unidentified committee member -- or members -- Hawkins was asked if the im- portance of getting the T-33's was appreciated. He replied: I think so, but I think the T-33 turned out to be a more effective aircraft than we had anticipated. I don't believe we thought they would be as dangerous to us as the B-26's. l4la/ This was an unjustified comment by a non-airman and it was never supported by the principal air oper~­ tions officers. - 301 -