Cuban Missile Crisis: Does anyone remember those thirteen days?

I was six years old in October, 1962, and my parents told me nothing. However, I learned all about the Cuban Missile Crisis from my seventh grade teacher in 1968.

My teacher had been a young sailor on one of those ships being sent to the Bay of Pigs. He and his fellow sailors were ordered to write a final letter home, just in case. They were told that the Russians were stockpiling missiles on Cuba, and that they were aimed at the U.S. He might be headed to war, nuclear war.

He remembered with great relief when, half the way there, the sailors were told to stop, turn around and return to port. The crisis was over.

So now what will happen with our new openness with Cuba? Our new friends will be getting cell phones, big screen TV’s and new cars. What will we get in this deal?

All I fervently pray for is that those missile silos are still empty.

This story was originally published February 3, 2017 at 6:41 PM with the headline "Cuban Missile Crisis: Does anyone remember those thirteen days?."