Nice essay. Made me walk down memory lane as your essays often do. My father was stationed at Guantanamo Bay Cuba at this time, and we lived on base. The navy eventually transferred the families of servicemen back to Norfolk, Va. Much later in their retirement, and my parents wrote a short joint memoir about that time in our lives which they titled: Cuban Memories, Our Brush with History 1960-1962. I have it on my lap right now, inspired by your essay to re-read it. This piece of history is not well taught, if taught at all, in high school history and yet seems so pertinent every few years.
Drop me a line and let me know how your re-reading of that goes, Bridget. I'd love to hear. I wonder if your dad was aware of all the things transpiring or was kept in a military silo, in terms of what he was told. Had to be fearful for his family while living on the island. I was in Cuba on an assignment once, in 1983, and found it to be a lovely place with wonderful people, food, music, and old world architecture. I very much want to go back.
Another great piece, Jim. As you described the rationale for destruction of existing nuclear weapons and an embargo on production of new ones, I couldn’t help but think of the micro version of that argument, which, of course, relates to individual ownership of assault-style weapons, or even on a more granular level, guns in general. Yes, in the greatest country on earth, we all live with some level of fear generated by the folly of our fellow humans.
The discussions surrounding "Will Putin Use Them" have become innumerable. Sages of every stripe weigh in. A recent piece of wisdom pronounced a loss of only 90 million lives if a full scale exchange takes place and most of America would be unharmed while Western Europe would bear the brunt of such brutality. How comforting. The fact is that no one knows what He'll do and what We'll do. Yes, it feels eerily similar to that feeling I had 60 years ago. Only now I know that a desk to hide under won't protect me from the consequences.
I was a third grader in San Antonio at the time. Our school was about two miles from Fort Sam Houston. I don't know that I fully processed the Cuban missile crisis at the time, but I do know that by the time I graduated from grade school I understood that, in a nuclear attack, Fort Sam would be a priority target and I might as well go stand in the schoolyard and watch the show when the sirens went off.
I have a Civil Defense manual published c. 1963. One of its many comical suggestions for shelter during a nuclear attack while, say, visiting the beach, is to overturn a rowboat and hide underneath for protection. You can’t make this stuff up.
Such vivid memories. Drop, roll, curl … and the unmentioned … kiss your a** goodbye.
I’d not thought about the more ominous definition for us “Boomers” until now, but that captures the stressful undercurrent of our generation’s 70+ years.
Meanwhile, we and our allies remain hypocritical and sanctimonious about whom may have nuclear weapons, knowing full well that nuke countries rarely, if ever get invaded. Why wouldn’t North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, et al, be pursuing the same deterrent?
I was 13 and vividly remember sitting in the car with my mother and 2 siblings. We were listening to the radio. It was the first time in my life I remember feeling fear. Consider that prior to that I had had 2 life threatening illnesses and two additional surgeries but that was the first time I felt the bone chilling fear. I'm not sure anyone who wasn't in Japan in 1945 or here during the missiles on October appreciates where we sit at this moment in history. Jim, I share your fear.
It's a strange thing we have to live with, ain't it, Charlie; being so young and having global mortality stuck in our faces? It truly does still keep me awake at nights all those decades later.
Nice essay. Made me walk down memory lane as your essays often do. My father was stationed at Guantanamo Bay Cuba at this time, and we lived on base. The navy eventually transferred the families of servicemen back to Norfolk, Va. Much later in their retirement, and my parents wrote a short joint memoir about that time in our lives which they titled: Cuban Memories, Our Brush with History 1960-1962. I have it on my lap right now, inspired by your essay to re-read it. This piece of history is not well taught, if taught at all, in high school history and yet seems so pertinent every few years.
Drop me a line and let me know how your re-reading of that goes, Bridget. I'd love to hear. I wonder if your dad was aware of all the things transpiring or was kept in a military silo, in terms of what he was told. Had to be fearful for his family while living on the island. I was in Cuba on an assignment once, in 1983, and found it to be a lovely place with wonderful people, food, music, and old world architecture. I very much want to go back.
That would be worth reading. I hope you can post it somewhere.
Another great piece, Jim. As you described the rationale for destruction of existing nuclear weapons and an embargo on production of new ones, I couldn’t help but think of the micro version of that argument, which, of course, relates to individual ownership of assault-style weapons, or even on a more granular level, guns in general. Yes, in the greatest country on earth, we all live with some level of fear generated by the folly of our fellow humans.
The discussions surrounding "Will Putin Use Them" have become innumerable. Sages of every stripe weigh in. A recent piece of wisdom pronounced a loss of only 90 million lives if a full scale exchange takes place and most of America would be unharmed while Western Europe would bear the brunt of such brutality. How comforting. The fact is that no one knows what He'll do and what We'll do. Yes, it feels eerily similar to that feeling I had 60 years ago. Only now I know that a desk to hide under won't protect me from the consequences.
I was a third grader in San Antonio at the time. Our school was about two miles from Fort Sam Houston. I don't know that I fully processed the Cuban missile crisis at the time, but I do know that by the time I graduated from grade school I understood that, in a nuclear attack, Fort Sam would be a priority target and I might as well go stand in the schoolyard and watch the show when the sirens went off.
Both seconds of it.
I have a Civil Defense manual published c. 1963. One of its many comical suggestions for shelter during a nuclear attack while, say, visiting the beach, is to overturn a rowboat and hide underneath for protection. You can’t make this stuff up.
Such vivid memories. Drop, roll, curl … and the unmentioned … kiss your a** goodbye.
I’d not thought about the more ominous definition for us “Boomers” until now, but that captures the stressful undercurrent of our generation’s 70+ years.
Meanwhile, we and our allies remain hypocritical and sanctimonious about whom may have nuclear weapons, knowing full well that nuke countries rarely, if ever get invaded. Why wouldn’t North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, et al, be pursuing the same deterrent?
Scary times indeed.
I was 13 and vividly remember sitting in the car with my mother and 2 siblings. We were listening to the radio. It was the first time in my life I remember feeling fear. Consider that prior to that I had had 2 life threatening illnesses and two additional surgeries but that was the first time I felt the bone chilling fear. I'm not sure anyone who wasn't in Japan in 1945 or here during the missiles on October appreciates where we sit at this moment in history. Jim, I share your fear.
It's a strange thing we have to live with, ain't it, Charlie; being so young and having global mortality stuck in our faces? It truly does still keep me awake at nights all those decades later.