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The author of this article, while stationed at a Naval Base during the Crisis was shown a letter another WAVE had recieved from her husband. He was on his way to Cuba.
President John F. Kennedy not only presented to the public, on October 22, 1962, the discovery of missile installations by Russia on the island of Cuba but also placed the American Armed Forces around the world on alert. On the Home FrontThis blockade, referred to as a Quarantine for legal purposes, meant that immediately United States naval ships began steaming in force towards Cuba. It also created one other situation. It was a situation, within my experience, of extreme disgruntle among the ranks of enlisted military personnel that I served with. U.S. Naval Training Center, Bainbridge, MarylandDuring this period of time I was an enlisted WAVE in the United States Navy, stationed at the United States Naval Training Center, Bainbridge, Maryland. My duty there, as an enlisted person, was to serve as editor of the base military newspaper, the Bainbridge Mainsheet. It was a position that enabled me to talk to all manner of personnel, both enlisted and officer, throughout the installation. This military base, no longer in use, was a large installation. Not only containing the WAVE "boot-camp," in addition it housed numerous naval schools including the Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS.) It also contained on of the Naval Nuclear Power schools, which at least made base personnel somewhat, though vaguely, familiar with the term nuclear weapons. Base Restriction Foils FunThe disagreeable situation that the President's announcement had created was that all military personnel were restricted to stay within a fifty-mile radius around the base. In essence, this meant no weekend barhopping trips to Washington D. C. or Baltimore, the two closest cities. For myself it meant no weekend bus trips to the capital to pass wonderful hours in museum and art gallery-hopping. No one could understand why the restriction had been placed upon them. After all, the President had assured all that the American ships that were included in the Cuban blockade were in no danger what so ever. But unknown to the civilian public, this proved to be grossly untrue. Farewell Husbands and Lovers: The 1962 Naval Blockade of Cuba, continues with: The Good-bye Letter: The 1962 Blockade of Cuban. Previous: Blockade or Quarantine: The Cuban Missile Crisis.
The copyright of the article Husbands and Lovers Sail to Cuba in American History is owned by Mary Trotter Kion. Permission to republish Husbands and Lovers Sail to Cuba in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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