On April 17, 1961, 1,400 U.S. trained Cuban exiles invaded the island during the
Bay of Pigs Invasion. Guevara himself did not play a key role in the fighting, as one day before the invasion a warship carrying Marines faked an invasion off the West Coast of
Pinar Del Rio and drew forces commanded by Guevara to that region. ...It was also during this deployment where he suffered a bullet grazing to the cheek when his pistol fell out of its holster and accidentally discharged.