Over Cuba

I have just read and enjoyed Sergei Khrushchev’s article on the Cuban Missile Crisis (“How My Father and President Kennedy Saved the World,” October 2002). During that crisis I was attached to the Navy’s Light Photographie Reconnaissance Squadron 62 (VFP-62) and with others flew one of the October 27, 1962, missions mentioned in the story. Mr. Khrushchev states that our planes were hit with ”30 millimeter shells.” Some of our planes were fired on that day, but none was hit. If my flight was fired on, I was not aware of it.

October 27 became known to us as Black Saturday, because we had been briefed that “Washington” wanted us to look for evidence that the missiles were being pulled out. Without such evidence
the crisis would rapidly escalate. I was able to report that the missile sites we flew over were in fact being bulldozed.