JFK ANNOUNCES NAVAL QUARANTINE OF CUBA
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On the evening of October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy addressed the nation on radio and television from the Oval Office. As the Cuban Missile Crisis heated up, 100 million people tuned in.
The President announced his decision to set up a strict naval quarantine* to stop shipment of Soviet nuclear missiles and related materials to Cuba.
President Kennedy added...
"It shall be (our) policy to regard any missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union."
During the address, Strategic Air Command status went to DEFCON 2** for the first time in history.
The world tottered on the brink of nuclear war.
*Quarantine is a restriction in the movement of people & goods. JFK opted to use this term because a "blockade" is considered to be an act of war under international law.
**DEFCON 2 is a Defense Readiness Condition as set up by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. From lowest to highest readiness..D5 is normal, D4 is above normal, D3 is USAF ready to mobilize in 15 minutes, D2 is Armed Forces ready to deploy & engage in less than 6 hours, D1 is maximum readiness, immediate response.
SOURCE
"One Minute To Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War," by Michael Dobbs, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2008.
