This Day in History: Cuban Missile Crisis: the View from Havana

[History Bot]

Cuban Missile Crisis: the View from Havana Katie Holyoak Wed, 09/21/2022 - 09:19

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[MickinMD ★]

I remember it, a couple weeks before my 12th birthday, walking home from elementary school and wondering if the end was near.

I'd get home and turn on our Black and White TV to see if President Kennedy was saying anything new.

Back in the 50's, we school kids had taken part in numerous citywide air raid drills where we went into the middle hallway, sat on the floor with our backs against the wall, and stuck our heads between our knees. The joke was we put our heads there so we could kiss our butts goodbye. But some kids got so scared, wondering if this was the real thing, that they peed themselves as the sirens wailed across the city.

So, by 1962, we knew full well how serious this was.

[maddmaxx ★]

We watched the news closely as the deadline neared and cheered when the Russian ships finally turned around.