Remembering Cuban Crisis


In response to Charlie Crist and his demand for free trade to Cuba, I remember when, in 1962, a U-2 spy plane over Cuba captured images of nuclear-missile sites being built by the Soviets. Only a stone's throw from the U.S. and the threats of the Soviet Union, President John F. Kennedy took action and put up a naval blockade on all armament shipments to Cuba. In a speech to the nation on Oct. 22, Kennedy called for the removal of missiles already in Cuba and the destruction of all launch sites.

Over the next week, Soviet ships carrying weapons to Cuba were locked in a stalemate with U.S. warships in the Caribbean. Faced with the very real possibility of nuclear war, Kennedy decided to approach Khrushchev with a deal to end the standoff peacefully.

Publicly, Kennedy promised not to invade Cuba if the Soviets withdrew their missiles. Thirteen days after the start of the crisis, Khrushchev accepted the offer and called back Soviet ships.

It didn't take long and a lot of other people were beginning to see that the situation in Cuba was more intense than even Kennedy was aware. After declassification of top-secret information and years of analysis by scholars and government officials, the reality of how close the world actually came to nuclear war is startling.

We all seem to know more about the Cuban Missile Crisis than ex-governor Charlie Crist. We don't need Cuba and its dealings with the communists. They need us.

If there are any votes your money can buy, it won't be from any of the senior citizens and the Cuban people who remember those who died in the gulf trying to reach safety in Florida. They know and they remember the dangerous times and starving.

We all remember the threat of the nuclear holocaust to Florida.


Winter Haven


▲ Return to Top