I recently saw two movies dealing with the end of the world -- Melancholia and Tree of Life. These artsy films sparked a remembrance of doomsday fears I once felt. Honestly, I often think of it when this time of year comes around.
What has come to be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the frightening days of October 14-28, 1962, was the closest we have ever come to all-out nuclear war. Day after day, as the United States and the Soviet Union moved toward inexorable conflict, there was a growing dread that there would be an annihilation.
Cuba is 90 miles from the Florida keys. In 1962, Fidel Castro had recently taken over that island, and the first wave of Cubans had arrived in South Florida. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was sending missiles to a base in Cuba, the United States had found this out by aerial photographs and there was a standoff: President Kennedy wanted the missiles removed under threat of nuclear war. Khrushchev wouldn't budge and authorized deployment if the missiles were removed.
At first my friends didn't mention this dire situation, as if ignoring would make it go away. But as the days passed, almost in slow motion, it became the number one thing we thought about upon waking and the last thing we thought about before sleep.
I was studying at the University of Florida in Gainesville. I saw trucks carrying soldiers and missiles down the Florida highway toward Miami. Each day we feared more that the nuclear confrontation that we had jumped under our desks for years to escape would actually happen.
At that time I was president of my sorority, and the administration huddled all of the sorority and fraternity presidents in a small hot room and the university president gave us a page of instructions: what to do in the event of a nuclear event, and how to lead our groups to shelters.
And they warned us not tell anyone about the meeting, and not to panic. I walked back to the sorority house in the dark -- frightened, silent and pretty sure that I'd die a virgin.
The Cuban Missile Crisis passed. Kennedy and Khrushchev ranted in public but found a way out, and through careful words and round-the-clock negotiations agreed to a compromise. The Soviet bases were dismantled. Our warships retreated. Coolness prevailed in the midst of searing heat, and I lived to lose my virginity.
From that moment I became aware of how important it is to elect a president who has a steady hand over the nuclear button. Someone who understands the nuances of the world and the dangers that surround us at every turn, and someone who has the gravitas and sense to reason and use diplomacy before violence.
My hope is that we never face a doomsday except in movies, but please remember that it already almost happened for real, when you vote in 2012.
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Comments
In 1984, when Reagan was reelected, I was convinced we'd all perish in a nuclear war. I was also convinced that the Republicans (and the country) couldn't possibly have elected a more ridiculous candidate (and for the second time!). I was wrong on both counts--fortunately in the first instance, unfortunately in the second.
Thank God we had days beyond the 13 days of the crisis. And that there was no nuclear war. And that you did not die. Will not comment on the rest.
Excellent posting, as always.
HUGGGG
What I discovered about three years later unnerved me a whole lot more. It was then I found out what the military had planned in the event of a nuclear attack. I was a mere reservist corporal, but even we, the ugly illegitimate children of the Department of National Defence, would be called up. Not, however, to rescue anyone. We weren't coming for you, folks: You were on your own. Anything anyone said otherwise was a lie.
"But there probably won't be a future! We need to do it NOw!!"
Men are pigs.
:-) / R
and, as you mention and frank confirms (the pig - and i'm saying that with a smile), every guy i knew was trying to get some girl's pants off with that line. it made me think, i'll admit that much.
great piece, lea. and this -- "Each day we feared more that the nuclear confrontation that we had jumped under our desks for years to escape would actually happen" is a terrific sentence.
But I got to hang on to both a steady hand and the lesson of history you presented so well.
In later years, I read someone commenting on the whole 'under the desk' thing, and it is interesting to consider that they were teaching us that as a way to survive a nuclear attack. Glad the teachers never told us the unlikelihood of it being effective.
Rated for the chill of reality.
Wait, that sounded wrong. =o)
Perhaps it was good that you didn't know how dangerous it truly was, Lea. Everyone got scared enough knowing what they did know, and you had no control over the situation at the time. Thank goodness Kennedy and Kruschev recognized the importance of compromise.
Oh yes, I'm always mindful of who will have their finger on the button when I vote. That was just one of my many reasons to vote for Obama. And why I will NEVER vote for a far-Right wing Christian. Part of me is truly amazed we survived the Bush II years. He was reckless enough to start a war. I never felt I could be sure of what he'd "never do." I think being reality based is a baseline requirement for ANY president. Which wipes out all the current GOP contenders for me.
rated!
I worked on the movie "Matinee" which was filmed at Universal Studios and other locations in central FL. Trust me, that low-low-low-budget stinker was a much better film than it had any right to be.
r.
I think that we are on the brink much of the time. And thankfully we don't know about how many mini doomsday scenarios play out ever day. Best we don't know. Keeps us sane.
So I bought a plastic machine gun and sat in the root cellar to practice survival. There were boxes of food, but it was the stuff my sister liked. She is younger and finicky my parents explained.
How was I suppose to survive in a dirt basement with a plastic gun and cold canned tomato soup?
A lot of skeptics were created in those times.
Lewis Black does a great routine on the absurdity of protecting ourselves under flimsy pieces of wood ... from a nuclear fireball! "On the Beach" is the most chilling doomsday movie of all, I think. But none of us thinks enough about the potentially disastrous consequences of choosing the wrong leaders. Thank you for this subtly chilling reminder.
The year 1962 was a major cause of the "Sexual Revolution".
Here is something more scary and very funny. I have a friend in SF in is 62 and is still a virgin. Believe me, it is believable.
He said something which I believe may be original...once, over wine, he said the following:
"The sexual revolution (60's) has come and gone and I never fired my first shot."
Very funny!
They had 'civil defense' drills. We hid our faces against the hallway wall with our arms. Then we all went back to our desks. We were told it was in case we're attacked, as in war. I'd seen the images, I knew what an 'atom' bomb could do, sortof. Somehow it wasn't real enough for me to be scared.
I look at the war scenes we see on TV, and think that this piece of land I'm living on hasn't seen war for 160 years. We're all so comfy in our warm little apartments. What will happen when we arrive at the bombshelters and they're already overflowing? Will we be worrying about how to fit all of our stuff into the car, when we don't realize there'll be no fresh water? Will we be arguing over a fenderbender, and waiting for the police, when we really should be getting the f out of there?
Uh........
My dorm was directly across the street from a Catholic Church. The line of people going to confession was out the door and down the block. And that was with about eight confessionals in use permitted by the number of Jesuit priests at the university. Some of the priests said later that there were people going who hadn't been to confession for 50 years.
Somehow, a lot of people were pretty much at peace with the coming nuclear war. They all figured that we'd go early and fast and not have to hang around wounded and watching a World War II-like fight on our doorstep.
It was an altogether unusual time. I'm glad that it's not been repeated.