50 Years ago this week...

A bit before my time.

I remember them pretty well,I did not know the details but I do remember being very scared and our teachers and school ran us througe emergency drills.

I looked at buying a house once that had turned the fall-out shelter into a wine cellar.  We did the put your head between your knees and kiss your butt goodbye drills in school, but by then the Soviets were too busy fighting amongst themselves to allow us to be as much of a threat as they considered us in 1961.  I'm fairly sure that radiation could have gotten past my stamped sheet steel and formica desk anyway. 

- Zurf

-6 LOLOLOL But got to stay in GTMO for a year LOLOLOL

I was 13 at the time, just starting high school. It was very frightening. I can remember being glued to the radio as the first Soviet transport ships were approached by the U.S. navy quarantine. It was very, very tense. That was October 27, 1961. The same day, an American U-2 accidently overflew Soviet territory and was fired upon and severly damaged. A low altitude recci plane was also shot down over Cuba that same day. The world came extremely close to annhilation that Saturday.

I credit the Kennedy brothers and Kruschev for ignoring the hot-headed military advice given to both parties by their military advisors. Curtis Lemay, in particular, was almost treasonous in his vigor to invade Cuba, and bomb it into submission. Lesser leaders may have gotten us all killed. It was, really, that close.

I suppose this event will be what it has become, simply a footnote in the Cold War. It seems, though that we learned from this. It was after this event that the "hot line" between Washington and Moscow was installed, so that leaders could communicate directly to head off escalations. In 1961, it took about 12 hours for communications between the two capitals, and no "live" link at all. This, of course, predated satellite communication by about 5 or 6 years.

For quite awhile, the brinkmanship was put on the backburner, resulting in the "detente" era of the late 60's and through the 70's. I believe that both sides were shaken badly by the experience, and were reminded how easy it would have been for this to get beyond control.

If you can't tell, I am a retired history teacher, and I was deeply affected by the events of those 13 day in October, 1961.

Randy

i was also 11 at the time. i remember it well as i recall my mother saying "that's it then, world war 3" she was wrong, thank god

i don't remember much else about 1962, except my father taking us on a trip to the gower peninsular and on the way back the road was flooded due to spring tides so we had to take the long way round. if it wasn't for that i might have missed the only playing of "my bonnie" on radio luxemburg or any other station till the beatles got famous....my claim to fame

Another piece of trivia. The creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle had a campaign to make Moosylvania a state. The plan was a lighthearted press oppurtunity to have President Kennedy sign a bill to pass it. When they went to the white house they werent allowed in. It was on the same day as The Cuban Missle Crisis. Stupid little things like that stick in my mind for some reason.