Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban missile crisis began on October 14, 1962. This is during the Cold War and Cuba had deals with Europe and we had deals with Turkey. Cuba was putting in some nuclear weapons about 90 miles off the shores of Florida. This was very bad because if Europe wanted to attack us they had a direct shot at us. But then at the same time they were in the same situation with us. We have nuclear weapons pointing at them.

I made a compromise with Europe, if you take down your missiles in Cuba we will take down our missiles in Turkey. It was nearly successful. But in mid October, with the Soviet tankers still enroute, American U-2 spy planes and CIA photo analysts detected several Medium Range Ballistic Missiles (MRBMs) on Cuban soil, their sites still under construction. In the weeks that followed, we both stood at the edge of nuclear holocaust. Never before in history has the world come closer to a general nuclear war.

By: Sam McClelland

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