U-2 PILOT SHOT DOWN AS HE RETURNS FROM MISSION OVER CUBA
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On October 27, 1962, President John F. Kennedy was informed that a U-2* piloted by Major Rudolf Anderson** had been shot down on return from a mission over Cuba.
Major Anderson died at 11:19 a.m. as a result of shrapnel from a Soviet missile puncturing his pressure suit.
Robert Kennedy would later say...
"The President...was more disturbed by the death of Major Anderson than he was worried about Khrushchev."
*U-2 is an American single engine high altitude reconnaissance aircraft introduced in 1955.
**Rudolf Anderson (1927-1962) was born in Greenville, South Carolina & graduated from Clemson University. RA was honored in death with the First Air Force Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal.
