61st Anniversary: Cuban Missile Crisis

Above, U-2 spy plane wreckage. The plane, piloted by Maj. Rudolf Anderson Jr., was shot
 down during the crisis. Anderson was the only U.S. casualty. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

This month marks 61 years since the Cuban Missile Crisis that lasted 13 days.

I noticed several posts about it in recent days.

From the John F. Kennedy Library website:

CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

For thirteen days in October 1962 the world waited—seemingly on the brink of nuclear war—and hoped for a peaceful resolution to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In October 1962, an American U-2 spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the Soviet Union on the island of Cuba. President Kennedy did not want the Soviet Union and Cuba to know that he had discovered the missiles. He met in secret with his advisors for several days to discuss the problem.

After many long and difficult meetings, Kennedy decided to place a naval blockade, or a ring of ships, around Cuba. The aim of this "quarantine," as he called it, was to prevent the Soviets from bringing in more military supplies. He demanded the removal of the missiles already there and the destruction of the sites. On October 22, President Kennedy spoke to the nation about the crisis in a televised address.

The only American casualty during the Cuban Missile Crisis was Maj. Rudolf Anderson when his U-2 spy plane was shot down over Banes, Cuba.

From Wikipedia:

Rudolf Anderson Jr. (September 15, 1927 – October 27, 1962) was an American Air Force major and pilot. He was the first recipient of the Air Force Cross, the U.S. military's and Air Force's second-highest award and decoration for valor. The only U.S. fatality by enemy fire during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Anderson died when his U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down over Cuba. He had previously served in Korea after the Korean War ended. He is a war hero in American society.