AWAITING armageddon AWAITING armageddon how americans faced the cuban missile crisis a l i c e l . g e o r g e the university of north carolina press chapel hill and london ©2003TheUniversityofNorthCarolinaPress Allrightsreserved ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica SetinCharter,Meta,andCrackhousetypes byTsengInformationSystems,Inc. Thepaperinthisbookmeetstheguidelinesfor permanenceanddurabilityoftheCommitteeon ProductionGuidelinesforBookLongevityofthe CouncilonLibraryResources. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData George,AliceL.,1952– AwaitingArmageddon:howAmericansfacedtheCuban MissileCrisis/AliceL.George. p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. isbn0-8078-2828-9(cloth:alk.paper) 1.CubanMissileCrisis,1962.2.CubanMissileCrisis,1962— Socialaspects.3.CubanMissileCrisis,1962—Publicopinion. 4.Civildefense—UnitedStates—History—20thcentury. 5.Nuclearwarfare—Socialaspects—UnitedStates—History— 20thcentury.6.ColdWar—Socialaspects—UnitedStates. 7.UnitedStates—Socialconditions—1960–1980.8.United States—Politicsandgovernment—1961–1963.9.Public opinion—UnitedStates—History—20thcentury.I.Title. e841.g392003 973.922—dc21 2003002760 07 06 05 04 03 5 4 3 2 1 To my strong and commonsensical mother and my late father, whose tender-hearted and playful spirit lives on contents Acknowledgments xi Crisis Week Chronology: Snapshots of Frightening Days xiii Introduction 1 chapter one. The Shadow of Death 19 chapter two. Bunker Mentality 42 chapter three. Ready or Not . . . 68 chapter four. The Looking Glass 87 chapter five. Politics and Strategy 115 chapter six. Children of the Cold War 138 Conclusion 164 Notes 171 Bibliography 215 Index 233 illustrations AnewportraitoftheAmericanfamily,1955 22 TheLegerfamilyofBronxville,NewYork,crouching inanescapetunnel 27 Philadelphia’sIndependenceHallduringacivildefensedrillin1959 35 ThearmyrecruitingstationinMiamiprocessingCubanexiles volunteeringformilitaryservice,23October 54 U.S.AirForcetroopcarrierplanearrivingatMiamiInternationalAirport, 22October 55 Airforcemapshowingtherangesofmedium-andintermediate-range SovietmissilesinCuba 63 CiviliansassembledonGeorgeSmathersBeachinKeyWest,Florida, toseesoldierspositionantiaircraftmissiles 69 AmemberofMiami’slargeCubanrefugeecommunityattendsaspecial Massduringthemissilecrisis 76 BoxboysataLosAngelessupermarket 79 ExtrasecuritymeasuresgreettouristsattheWhiteHouseon 23October 83 JournalistsphotographingPresidentKennedyashedelivershisdramatic addresstothenationon22October 91 CubanrefugeesgatheredinaNewYorkhoteltohearthepresidential address 95 SovietdeputyforeignministerValerianA.Zorin,AdlaiStevenson,and MarioGarcía-IncháusteguiattheemergencysessionoftheUnited NationsSecurityCouncilon23October 110 NewYorkersfloodinganewsstandon24October 113