THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS
The American Legion Post #27 of Glennallen proudly presents to the readers of the
GOPPER RIVER CURRENT the history making speech made on 22nd of October^ 1962 by the
President of the United States.
''Good evening my fellow citizens. This Government as promised, has maintained the
closest surveilence of the soviet military buildup of the Island of Cuba, Within the past
week unmistakeable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensives missil
sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island. The purpose of these bases can be
none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere,.
Upon receiving the first preliminary hard information of this nature last Tuesday morning
at 9 am, I directed that our surveilence be stepped up and having now confirmed and com
pleted our evaluation of the evidence and our decision on a course of action, This
Government feels obliged to report this new crises to you in fullest detail. The char
acteristics of these new missile sites indicates two distinct types of installations *
Several of them include medium range ballistic missiles,..capable of carrying a neuclear
warhead for a distance of more than 1,000 nautical miles. Each of these missiles, in short,
is capable of striking Washington DG, the Panama Canal, Gape Canaveral, Mexico City, or
any other city in the southeastern part of the United states, m Central America, or in
the Garribean area* Additional sites not yet completed appear to be designed for inter
mediate range ballistic missiles capable of traveling more than twice as far and thus
capable of striking most of the major cities in the Western Hemisphere - ranging as'far
north as Hudson’s Bay, Canada, and as far south as Lima, Peru. In addition jet bombers
capable of carrying nuclear weapons are now being uncrated and assembled in Cuba while
the necessary air bases are being prepared. This urgent transformation ofCuba into an
important strategic base by the presence of these large long-range and clearly offensive
weapons of sudden mass destruction constitutes an explicit threat to the peace and security,
of all the America’so In flagrant and deliberate defiance of the Rio Pact of 1947 the ,
traditions of this nation and hemisphere, the joint resolution of the 87th Congress, the
Charter of the United Nations, and my own public warnings to the Soviets on September 4th
and 13th. This action also contradicts the repeated assurances of Soviet spokesman both
publicly and privately delivered that the arms buildup Cuba would retain its original
defensive character, and that the Soviet Union had no need or desire to station strategic
missiles on the' territory of any other nation. The size of this undertaking makes clear
that it has been plane for some months, yet only last month after I made clear the distinc
tion between any introduction of ground to ground missiles and the existence of defensive
anti-aircraft missiles, the Soviet Government publicly stated on September 11, that:
(and I quote) the armament and military equipment sent to Cuba are designed exclusively
for defensive purposes - unquote - but there is - and I quote the Soviet Government-’
There is no need for the Soviet Government to ship these weapons for a retaliatory blow
to any other country for instance Cuba - unquote, and that, and I quote the Government -
the Soviet Union has so powerful rockets to carry these nuclear warheads that there is
no need to search for sites for and beyond the boundaries of the Soviet Union - unquote -
That statement was false. Only Last Thursday, as evidence of this rapid offensive buildup
was already in my hand, Soviet Foreign Minister Gromiko told me in my office that he was
instructed to make it clear once again, as he said his government had already done, the
soviet assistance to Cuba and I quote ’’Pursue solely the purpose of contributing to. the
defense capabilities of Cuba - unquote, That - and I quote him - training by Soviet
specialists of Cuba Nationals in handling defensive armaments was by no means offensive.
And if it were otherwise, Mr. Gromeko went on, the Soviet Government: .would never become
involved, in rendering such assistance, unquote. That statement also was false. Neither
the United States of America nor the world community of nations can ^tolerate deliberate _
deception and offensive throats on the part of any nation, large or small*. We no longer
live in a world where only the actual firing of weapons represents a sufficient cnanenge
to a nation’s security to constitute maximum peril. Nuclear weapons.are so destructive,
and ballistic missiles are so swift, that any substantially increased possibility of,their
use, or any sudden change in their deployment, may well be regarded as a definite threat
to peace. For many years both the Soviet Union and the United States recognizing this
fact, have deployed strategic nuclear weapons with great care, never up setting the pre
carious status quo which insured that these weapons would not be used in the absence of
some vital challenge. Our own strategic missiles have never been transferred to the
territory of any other nation under a cloak of secrecy and deception, and our history,
unlike that of the Soviets since the end of World War II, demonstrates that we have no
desire to dominate or conquer any other nation or impose our system upon its people-e Never
the less American citizens have become adjusted to living daily on the bulls eye of
Soviet missiles located inside the USSR or in submarines in that sense, missiles in Cuba,
add to an already clear and present danger* Although it should be noticed the nations
of Latin America have never previously been subjected to a potential nuclear threat
but this secret, swift, extraordinary buildup of communist missiles in an area well known