People who lived through the Cuban missile crisis, please share

[nytemare]

your stories.

I just got through watching Thirteen Days, and think that was such an interesting time in our history.

Please share your stories of what you remember. What did your families do, schools, jobs, etc.

:hi:

[Nicole]

1. I lived through it

but I was only 4 at the time so I didn't know about it.

Just wanted to give you a :kick:

I'm curious as well.

[nytemare]

15. Thanks for the kick.

:hi:

[pitohui]

2. hid in the basement of some folks who had a basement for a couple days?

i was little but now i realize how silly that was, what did they think, that if we had a nuclear war, we were going to be able to keep living in somebody else's basement until the fall-out went away, c'mon, we'd have ended up shooting ea. other

[Rowdyboy]

3. I was seven and pissed becasue my mom wouldn't let me go to the movie

(back then we could go safely by ourselves). However, Castro's rantings scared my mom enough so I wasn't allowed to go that weekend. At seven, I'd already heard my mamaw rave about the coming "Final Days" for several years so I was ready to believe anything.

[Arugula Latte]

12. Funny how those Final Days are always juuuuuust around the corner.

Any day now. Yep. Any day.

Jesus is gonna come back. And then the Cubs are gonna win the World Series ...

[serryjw]

4. I was 12 and remeber it very well

It was a water shed for me. My father didn't go to work for 4 days. They moved the TV to the living room...I KNEW how scared they were. Probably is the reason I hate war so much.

RENT THIS,,,far better movie
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071847/

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. I was in 8th grade. Figured we were doomed.

That was back during the old "duck and cover" days, and even we kids knew that was pure B.S.; all it meant was you put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye. Everybody was watching the situation unfold on television (thank God we didn't have the hysterical talking hairdos of Faux News then), and we were scared shitless. I don't remember specifically what my family did (we never built a bomb shelter; I think my parents knew that was a hopeless proposition), but I do remember sitting in class, just waiting for Doomsday.

Good thing Bush and Cheney weren't managing that crisis...

[Oeditpus Rex]

6. I just saw that a couple weeks ago

Hell of a movie. :thumbsup:

I was 6, and there was a drill at school. We all went outside, and I remember there was an airplane flying over, which seemed a bit spooky.

Then they sent us home. We didn't know why.

I have a vague recollection of all the adults being on edge.

[texanwitch]

7. I was in the 2nd grade, all I can remember is getting out early from

school.

As we walked home we were watching the sky for Russian bombers, stupid I know but we just little kids.

[blues90]

8. My story for what it's worth

I was 13 and in jr high 7th grade at the time . Now back then teachers in chicago went beyond the text books and dealt with present events quite often and this certainly qualified as one .

I admit being told the truth with no holding back was a lot to deal with . We had the usual duck and cover garbage and my history teacher really did not buy into that , he knew all to well that this was not going to save us and let us know so . But the drills continued never the less .

On a personal note i was very ill at this point in time , I did'nt know what was wrong , we were under the christian scientist belief so doctors were out . I was ill for the better part of a year when this event came along .

I knew two things , there was a good chance the world could end and we may be attacked , it got very close a few times through that time frame . one day there was hope and then the next we were back worried it was the end . This sort of fear is difficult to explain , I felt one way or the other I was going to die from the attack or the illness . I knew I would never see my 14th birthday . I can only explain the fear and feeling as what it may be like for any country now under the threat of an attack . This is one way to look at it and one thing that does make one realize just how horrid and foolish war is , just how terrified people in Iraq or the middle east must be and why I would never wish this on anyone , I don't see the rest of the world as my enemy , I see them as people with all the same dreams and hopes I may have .

Each day as the morning came you hoped it was over and could'nt wait to know for certain but there was this dread to turn on the TV or radio to find out , it seemed like forever , back to school and duck and cover and wondering if this will be the day this ends and we are safe but it went on .

Once the word came that cuba stood down it was such a relief , we talked about this in school , this is were was when the news came in . You could feel the stress drain out of each person in the class and felt almost giddy . One thing you did know is that nothing was ever worth goig through this again . I felt that after this , as close as it was for complete destruction and all the horrid effects we who lived would have gone through that finally there would never be another war .

Well I was wrong , not many years later i was facing the real chance of ending up in vietnam . Now here we are once again but with Kennedy we did have faith if anyone could get us out of this he could . NOW I can tell you that same feeling from so many years ago is back but this time I have no faith bush will save us or anyne else so now i would have to say the threat is much more possible . Difference is there is no duck and cover or news you can tune to and I am not a teen wondering and hoping to see my next birthday , I only fear the stupidity of it all and resent being handed over to the control of a madman with no conscience or regard for life or mankind .

Didn't intend to get political but it is difficult to separate global threat from politics .

[karmaqueen]

9. I remember it well.

I was very young and in Catholic school. You could feel the tension in the building. The nuns ran from room to room whispering. We were told to kneel next to our desk ans recite the rosary. There was a big air raid siren right near the school and they were testing it all the time, it was so loud you had to put your hands over your ears. We had a German nun, she spoke with a strong accent and she would tell us to never deny Jesus no matter what. She said if they pull your finger nail out, put you in boiling water, whatever, do not deny Jesus. We were sent home at lunch time with a note saying to stay home until further notice,we needed to be with our families.
When I got home that day I could also feel my mother's fear. I started to cry and sat on the floor register and kept saying "I don't want to die." It is funny that so many of my memories I am sitting on the floor over that register no matter what time of year. We lived in an old, drafty house in an inter city and it gave me heat in the freezing winter & comfort throughout the year. I remember thinking that I did not believe that God would be mad if I said I didn't believe to avoid being boiled. This was the first time it came to me that I did not really believe what I was being taught about God. Also it was my first glimpse into the real world of war and politics. Although I was very young, first grade, probably seven, I remember it as if it were yesterday. I can say that the emotions I had that day shaped a large part of who I am today.
I do not post much but I read here every night, it helps to know there are such great people in the world, I enjoy you all, thanks!

[gardenista]

10. I was about 4 years old

My mom got a call from her NSA-connected brother, (who was kind of a drama queen), and he told her to pack up the car and get ready to get out of town. (We lived within 10 miles of DC.)

I went out into the back yard and made a bunch of traps out of sticks in case Castro and Kruschyev came to my house. I had a plan, and I wasn't afraid to use it.

[Monk06]

11. Was 12 yrs old living on a DEW line base in the Arctic. Half the base were

SAC personel. When word came down about the
crisis American families were given 24 hrs
notice to pack up, get outta Dodge and fly
south.

[havocmom]

13. I was in grade school. Big brother on a Coast Guard Cutter off Cuba

It was tense around our house. Lots of 'duck and cove' drills at school. We knew that wouldn't save our little butts if the bombs started falling but we went through the motions. It didn't make anyone feel better.

Kids didn't play outside. Seems like even the birds in southern California were still and holding their breath.

My mom cried softly and tried not to let us see.

The world held its breath. I still find myself not breathing when I think about it.

It was tense.

[WCGreen]

14. JFL spoke to the nation on my fifth birthday....

I remember it in BW, case TV's were black and white back then....

Cleveland was a B&W town back then, in my memories at least...

I remember my dad kept telling my mom that we were out of the circle...

Out of the circle...

They had drawn these circles emminating from Cuba up into the US and showing how far north the missles would be able to go...

No one thought of radiation fall out then...

In Cleveland we had what was called NIKE sites...

Two or three mini Airforce bases where they kept batteries of missles...

I remember my dad taking us around to show where they were and telling us to stay away from these areas....

But what I remember most was my little birthday party was turned upside down...

[nytemare]

16. Thank you everyone for your stories!

I have to go to work, so can't respond to everyone, but your stories are very intriguing.

:hi: