SIX SOVIET SHIPS STOP SHORT OF QUARANTINE LINE
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On October 24, 1962, Day 9 of the Cuban Missile Crisis, six Soviet ships approaching the Quarantine Line 500 miles east of Cuba, according to CIA director John McCone, "stopped or reversed direction."
The news was relayed to the Cabinet Room at The White House where the Executive Committee of the National Security Council was in session.
Having come dangerously close to the start of a nuclear war, Secretary of State Dean Rusk said...
"We stood eyeball to eyeball. The other fellow just blinked."
JFK+50 NOTE
At a dinner that evening, journalist Charles Bartlett proposed a toast to celebrate to which JFK responded, "You don't want to celebrate in the game this early," or as Yogi Berra put it, "It ain't over 'til its over!"
SOURCE
"We Stood Eyeball to Eyeball," JFK+50, October 24, 2014, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/
