Oct 20, 2012

Fifty years ago, the U.S. and the Soviet Union headed toward the brink of a nuclear nightmare over Russian missiles being placed in Cuba that faced north toward the United States.

: Cuban president Osvaldo Dorticos Torrado addresses the United Nations General Assembly to denounce U.S. aggression against his country at the time of the Cuban missile crisis. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

: In this photo released by Cuban newspaper Granma, Cuban leader Fidel Castro (center) talks with the crew of a field artillery battery at an undisclosed place during the 1962 missile crisis. (Granma/AFP/Getty Images)

: In this photo released by Cuban newspaper Granma, Cuban militiamen man an anti-aircraft battery at Havana’s Malecon during the 1962 missile crisis. (Granma/AFP/Getty Images)

: Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament members march on Oxford Street in London, protesting against the United States’ actions in the Cuban missile crisis. (Ron Case/Getty Images)

: In this photo released by Cuban newspaper Granma, Cuban militiamen man a Czechoslovakian-made anti-aircraft gun at Havana’s Malecon during the 1962 missile crisis. (Granma/AFP/Getty Images)

: U.S. President John F. Kennedy signs the order of a U.S. naval blockade of Cuba in the White House during the Cuban missile crisis. (File photo/AFP/Getty Images)

: This aerial photograph from November 1962 shows a medium range ballistic missile launch site at San Cristobal, Cuba. It has been 50 years since a standoff between the U.S. and the Soviet Union over missiles in Cuba pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war. (National Archives/MCT)

: In this photo released by Cuban newspaper Granma, Fidel Castro (right, with beard) talks with soldiers at an undisclosed place during the 1962 missile crisis. (Granma/AFP/Getty Images)

: In this photo released by Cuban newspaper Granma, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, right, inspects an artillery unit at an undisclosed location during the 1962 missile crisis. (Granma/AFP/Getty Images)

: In this photo released by Cuban newspaper Granma, Cuban leader Fidel Castro inspects an anti-aircraft unit at an undisclosed place during the 1962 missile crisis. (Granma/AFP/Getty Images)

: In this photo released by Cuban newspaper Granma, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, left, inspects an artillery unit at an undisclosed place during the 1962 missile crisis. (Granma/AFP/Getty Images)

: A U.S. administration official shows aerial views of a Cuban medium-range missile base as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Adlai Stevension, right, describes the photos to members of the United Nations Security Council on Oct. 25, 1962. (File photo/AFP/Getty Images)

: In this photo released by Cuban newspaper Granma, Fidel Castro, right, inspects an artillery unit at an undisclosed place. (Granma/AFP/Getty Images)

: Members of the Cuban militia mobilized during the October 1962 missile crisis. (Handout photo/AFP/Getty Images)

: Cuban leader Fidel Castro gives a speech in Cuba circa October 22, 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis. (File photo/AFP/Getty Images)

: In this handout photo released by Cuban newspaper Granma, Cuban militiamen man an 82-mm field mortar during the 1962 missile crisis. (Granma/AFP/Getty Photo)

: U.S. President John F. Kennedy meets with Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in the Cabinet Room of the White House on October 29, 1962. It has been 50 years since a stand off between the United States and Russia over missiles in Cuba pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war. (National Archives/MCT)

: The coffin of Major Rudolf Anderson Jr., the sole casualty of the Cuban missile crisis, is lifted in a Swiss plane at Havana’s airport. Anderson’s U-2 spy plane was shot down by a Soviet-supplied SA-2 missile on Oct. 27, 1962, while negotiations between U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev were still under way. (File photo/AFP/Getty Images)

: In this aerial photo taken on Nov. 9, 1962, on the Cuban coast, the Soviet freighter “Anosov” carries missiles in accordance with the U.S.-Soviet agreement on the withdrawal of the Russian missiles from Cuba. American planes and helicopters flew in at a low-level to keep a close check on the dismantling and loading operations, while U.S. warships watched over Soviet freighters carrying missiles back to the USSR. (Handout photo/AFP/Getty Images)

: Cuban farmer Jose Teston stands at the site of a Russian R-12 missile silo built during the 1962 missile crisis, in San Cristobal, Cuba. (Alberto Roque/AFP/Getty Images)

: Fifty years after the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, Cuban farmer Jose Teston rests on a concrete wall at the site of a Russian R-12 theater missile silo in San Cristobal, Cuba. (Alberto Roque/AFP/Getty Images)

: A marble plaque marks the place where a Russian R-12 theater missile was deployed during the 1962 missile crisis in San Cristobal, Cuba. (Alberto Roque/AFP/Getty Images)

: A marble plaque marks the place where a Russian R-12 theater missile was deployed during the 1962 missile crisis in San Cristobal, Cuba. (Alberto Roque/AFP/Getty Images)

50 years ago, Baltimore and other U.S. cities feared missile strike
By Frederick N. Rasmussen, The Baltimore Sun
October 18, 2012

In an era when communism and the nuclear arms race were considered palpable and real threats, schoolchildren throughout the country were instructed about what to do in the event of a nuclear attack.

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But the fear that such a nightmare might happen became chillingly real 50 Octobers ago, when Baltimoreans as well as the rest of the world had real reason to fear a nuclear war. The U.S. and Russia careened toward the brink of such a calamity over Soviet missiles being placed in Cuba pointed north toward the U.S. mainland.

Remembering the Cuban missile crisis, 50 years later

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