Monday, October 22, 1962
Tallahassee, Florida
He pulled into the driveway, avoided the ever-present football, eased the car to a stop. He expected a greeting, but the yard was empty, assumed both children were inside. Margaret’s car was already there, unusual, and he climbed out of the Ford, thought, a short day for her. That’s good. She’ll be in a good mood.
He picked up the football, wondered about Danny, knew the boy would never miss the chance for a catch. It was the boy’s dream, to play football, at any level that would have him. The boy had a surprising talent, amazing hands, could catch anything thrown his way. Already, coaches at the middle school were asking him to come out for the team, though Russo was nervous about that. The boy was undersized, and Russo imagined every parent’s nightmare, to sit in some grandstands, while your child ended up being carried off the field. Danny took it well, though Russo knew the boy was hanging around the practice field at school, the coach teaching him how to run pass patterns, both of them no doubt wondering if the time would come when Danny would finally be allowed to play.
He tossed the ball into the grass, thought again of the controversy at the middle school, so many of the parents on both sides of the issue making the big fuss about finally allowing Black students to attend the school. Incredibly, there were only to be two students, a bizarre example of tokenism, as though baby steps were the only way such a move could be accepted by most of the white parents. The boy was named Leroy Powell, and it didn’t escape Russo that he actually knew the boy’s name, along with everyone else in town. It was no coincidence that Leroy was an exceptional athlete, so naturally, a way was found to bring the boy into the all-white school. There had been a girl too, her name obscure, Danny talking about Julia something, Danny accepting her presence as just another day at school. But Russo wondered about her, the sheer terror of walking into a school where you’re the only one. God help her, he thought. Hopefully, someone will have the brains to allow more of the Black kids to come over from the Black school, or maybe, one day, there won’t even be a Black school, just … school.
Maybe I should run for the school board.
He moved toward the front door, no sounds from the house, opened the door, and caught the fantastic smell.
“Hello? My God, what is that?”
He heard her call out, “I’m in the kitchen. Wipe your feet, and get ready for dinner. It will be ready in a minute. Sorry to be so early, but I’ve never really done this before. It took less time than I thought.”
“Whatever it is, I approve.”
He saw both children now, drawn as he was to the smells from the kitchen. Danny said, “What’s Mom making?”
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
SHE HAD PREPARED fried chicken for dinner. It wasn’t the usual TV-dinner variety, but fresh, the kitchen now a mess of spattered grease and the heavy odor of frying. It was a rare treat, only happening when Margaret had the extra time to give, home early, finally making use of a recipe offered her by one of her clients, an old couple out east of town who did everything the Southern way. They had even supplied her with a package of field peas, another treat she could never find in the grocery store.
He sat back in the chair, rubbed his stomach, ran his tongue through the last coating of grease in his mouth, knew it would be a long while before she sacrificed the cleanliness of her kitchen to do this again. Beside him, Danny said, “Mom, that was great. How come we don’t have fried chicken more often?”
Margaret stood, moved away from the table, plates in hand, said, “Because this house will smell like this for three days, and I’ll be wiping grease off the stove for an hour. So, I hope you enjoyed it. That elderly couple, the Johnsons, they’ve been offering me all sorts of recipes to try, and they grew those peas in their garden. They don’t think I’m feeding you well enough, that it’s important to have a good helping of lard every now and then. Well, there you go. Tomorrow night, it’s salad.”
Russo wasn’t sure if she was kidding or not, tossed the last piece of crispy chicken skin into his mouth, saw happy smiles on the faces of both children. Becky said, “Daddy, there’s pie.”
Margaret set the plates in the sink, said, “Yes, there’s pie. Peach, to be exact. Another gift from Mrs. Johnson. That woman is determined that I not fit into my clothes. Give me one minute, and I’ll dish it out.”
Russo loved pie, and it didn’t matter what kind.
“You should go visit the Johnsons more often. I could get used to this. But I’ll enjoy the salad too.” He glanced at his watch, not quite seven. “Save my pie for later. I think I’ll catch the news, see what bad tidings Walter Cronkite has for us today.”
He carried his plate to the sink, a quick kiss on the cheek for Margaret, then moved to the living room. He sat heavily on the soft sofa, felt the weight in his stomach once more. Good thing she doesn’t cook like that every day, he thought. I’d weigh a ton. He bent forward, reached out, turned the knob on the TV set, leaned back, glanced toward the kitchen, the sound of dishes in the sink. I should help her, he thought. But right now, I feel like a whale.
“We interrupt this nightly news report, for a special bulletin. The president of the United States.”
Russo stared at the TV, felt a twist in his gut, always the reaction to a special news bulletin. What’s Kennedy want, he thought.
“Hey, Margaret. The president’s on TV.”
She came in, dish towel in one hand, the children trailing behind. They sat, as the figure of the president appeared, seated at a desk, flags behind him.
“Good evening my fellow citizens. This government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet military buildup on the island of Cuba. Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island. The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere.
“Upon receiving the first preliminary hard information of this nature last Tuesday morning at nine a.m., I directed that our surveillance be stepped up. And having now confirmed and completed our evaluation of the evidence and our decision on a course of action, this government feels obliged to report this new crisis to you in fullest detail.
“The characteristics of these new missile sites indicate two distinct types of installations. Several of them include medium-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead for a distance of more than one thousand nautical miles. Each of these missiles, in short, is capable of striking Washington, D.C., the Panama Canal, Cape Canaveral, Mexico City, or any other city in the southeastern part of the United States, in Central America, or in the Caribbean area.
“Additional sites not yet completed appear to be designed for intermediate-range ballistic missiles—capable of traveling more than twice as far—and thus capable of striking most of the major cities in the Western Hemisphere, ranging as far north as Hudson Bay, Canada, and as far south as Lima, Peru. In addition, jet bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, are now being uncrated and assembled in Cuba, while the necessary air bases are being prepared.
“This urgent transformation of Cuba into an important strategic base—by the presence of these large, long-range, and clearly offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction—constitutes an explicit threat to the peace and security of all the Americas, in flagrant and deliberate defiance of the Rio Pact of 1947, the traditions of this nation and hemisphere, the joint resolution of the 87th Congress, the Charter of the United Nations, and my own public warnings to the Soviets on September 4 and 13. This action also contradicts the repeated assurances of Soviet spokesmen, both publicly and privately delivered, that the arms buildup in Cuba would retain its original defensive character, and that the Soviet Union had no need or desire to station strategic missiles on the territory of any other nation.
“The size of this undertaking makes clear that it has been planned for some months. Yet only last month, after I had made clear the distinction between any introduction of ground-to-ground missiles and the existence of defensive antiaircraft missiles, the Soviet government publicly stated on September 11, and I quote, ‘the armaments and military equipment sent to Cuba are designed exclusively for defensive purposes,’ that, and I quote the Soviet government, ‘there is no need for the Soviet government to shift its weapons … for a retaliatory blow to any other country, for instance Cuba,’ and that, and I quote their government, ‘the Soviet Union has so many powerful rockets to carry these nuclear warheads that there is no need to search for sites for them beyond the boundaries of the Soviet Union.’ That statement was false.
“Only last Thursday, as evidence of this rapid offensive buildup was already in my hand, Soviet foreign minister Gromyko told me in my office that he was instructed to make it clear once again, as he said his government had already done, that Soviet assistance to Cuba, and I quote, ‘pursued solely the purpose of contributing to the defense capabilities of Cuba,’ that, and I quote him, ‘training by Soviet specialists of Cuban nationals in handling defensive armaments was by no means offensive, and if it were otherwise,’ Mr. Gromyko went on, ‘the Soviet government would never become involved in rendering such assistance.’ That statement also was false.
“Neither the United States of America nor the world community of nations can tolerate deliberate deception and offensive threats on the part of any nation, large or small. We no longer live in a world where only the actual firing of weapons represents a sufficient challenge to a nation’s security to constitute maximum peril. Nuclear weapons are so destructive and ballistic missiles are so swift, that any substantially increased possibility of their use or any sudden change in their deployment may well be regarded as a definite threat to peace.
“For many years both the Soviet Union and the United States, recognizing this fact, have deployed strategic nuclear weapons with great care, never upsetting the precarious status quo which ensured that these weapons would not be used in the absence of some vital challenge. Our own strategic missiles have never been transferred to the territory of any other nation under a cloak of secrecy and deception; and our history—unlike that of the Soviets since the end of World War II—demonstrates that we have no desire to dominate or conquer any other nation or impose our system upon its people. Nevertheless, American citizens have become adjusted to living daily on the bull’s-eye of Soviet missiles located inside the U.S.S.R. or in submarines.
“In that sense, missiles in Cuba add to an already clear and present danger—although it should be noted the nations of Latin America have never previously been subjected to a potential nuclear threat.
“But this secret, swift, and extraordinary buildup of Communist missiles—in an area well known to have a special and historical relationship to the United States and the nations of the Western Hemisphere, in violation of Soviet assurances, and in defiance of American and hemispheric policy—this sudden, clandestine decision to station strategic weapons for the first time outside of Soviet soil—is a deliberately provocative and unjustified change in the status quo which cannot be accepted by this country, if our courage and our commitments are ever to be trusted again by either friend or foe.
“The 1930s taught us a clear lesson: aggressive conduct, if allowed to go unchecked and unchallenged ultimately leads to war. This nation is opposed to war. We are also true to our word. Our unswerving objective, therefore, must be to prevent the use of these missiles against this or any other country and to secure their withdrawal or elimination from the Western Hemisphere.
“Our policy has been one of patience and restraint, as befits a peaceful and powerful nation, which leads a worldwide alliance. We have been determined not to be diverted from our central concerns by mere irritants and fanatics. But now further action is required—and it is under way; and these actions may only be the beginning. We will not prematurely or unnecessarily risk the costs of worldwide nuclear war in which even the fruits of victory would be ashes in our mouth—but neither will we shrink from that risk at any time it must be faced.
“Acting, therefore, in the defense of our own security and of the entire Western Hemisphere, and under the authority entrusted to me by the Constitution as endorsed by the resolution of the Congress, I have directed that the following initial steps be taken immediately:
“First: To halt this offensive buildup, a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba from whatever nation or port will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back. This quarantine will be extended, if needed, to other types of cargo and carriers. We are not at this time, however, denying the necessities of life as the Soviets attempted to do in their Berlin blockade of 1948.
“Second: I have directed the continued and increased close surveillance of Cuba and its military buildup. The foreign ministers of the OAS, in their communiqué of October 6, rejected secrecy in such matters in this hemisphere. Should these offensive military preparations continue, thus increasing the threat to the hemisphere, further action will be justified. I have directed the armed forces to prepare for any eventualities; and I trust that in the interest of both the Cuban people and the Soviet technicians at the sites, the hazards to all concerned in continuing this threat will be recognized.
“Third: It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.
“Fourth: As a necessary military precaution, I have reinforced our base at Guantánamo, evacuated today the dependents of our personnel there, and ordered additional military units to be on a standby alert basis.
“Fifth: We are calling tonight for an immediate meeting of the Organ of Consultation under the Organization of American States, to consider this threat to hemispheric security and to invoke Articles 6 and 8 of the Rio Treaty in support of all necessary action. The United Nations Charter allows for regional security arrangements—and the nations of this hemisphere decided long ago against the military presence of outside powers. Our other allies around the world have also been alerted.
“Sixth: Under the Charter of the United Nations, we are asking tonight that an emergency meeting of the Security Council be convoked without delay to take action against this latest Soviet threat to world peace. Our resolution will call for the prompt dismantling and withdrawal of all offensive weapons in Cuba, under the supervision of UN observers, before the quarantine can be lifted.
“Seventh and finally: I call upon Chairman Khrushchev to halt and eliminate this clandestine, reckless, and provocative threat to world peace and to stabilize relations between our two nations. I call upon him further to abandon this course of world domination, and to join in an historic effort to end the perilous arms race and to transform the history of man. He has an opportunity now to move the world back from the abyss of destruction—by returning to his government’s own words that it had no need to station missiles outside its own territory, and withdrawing these weapons from Cuba—by refraining from any action which will widen or deepen the present crisis—and then by participating in a search for peaceful and permanent solutions.
“This nation is prepared to present its case against the Soviet threat to peace, and our own proposals for a peaceful world, at any time and in any forum—in the OAS, in the United Nations, or in any other meeting that could be useful—without limiting our freedom of action. We have in the past made strenuous efforts to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. We have proposed the elimination of all arms and military bases in a fair and effective disarmament treaty. We are prepared to discuss new proposals for the removal of tensions on both sides—including the possibility of a genuinely independent Cuba, free to determine its own destiny. We have no wish to war with the Soviet Union—for we are a peaceful people who desire to live in peace with all other peoples.
“But it is difficult to settle or even discuss these problems in an atmosphere of intimidation. That is why this latest Soviet threat—or any other threat which is made either independently or in response to our actions this week—must and will be met with determination. Any hostile move anywhere in the world against the safety and freedom of peoples to whom we are committed—including in particular the brave people of West Berlin—will be met by whatever action is needed.
“Finally, I want to say a few words to the captive people of Cuba, to whom this speech is being directly carried by special radio facilities. I speak to you as a friend, as one who knows of your deep attachment to your fatherland, as one who shares your aspirations for liberty and justice for all. And I have watched and the American people have watched with deep sorrow how your nationalist revolution was betrayed—and how your fatherland fell under foreign domination. Now your leaders are no longer Cuban leaders inspired by Cuban ideals. They are puppets and agents of an international conspiracy which has turned Cuba against your friends and neighbors in the Americas—and turned it into the first Latin American country to become a target for nuclear war—the first Latin American country to have these weapons on its soil.
“These new weapons are not in your interest. They contribute nothing to your peace and well-being. They can only undermine it. But this country has no wish to cause you to suffer or to impose any system upon you. We know that your lives and land are being used as pawns by those who deny your freedom.
“Many times in the past, the Cuban people have risen to throw out tyrants who destroyed their liberty. And I have no doubt that most Cubans today look forward to the time when they will be truly free—free from foreign domination, free to choose their own leaders, free to select their own system, free to own their own land, free to speak and write and worship without fear or degradation. And then shall Cuba be welcomed back to the society of free nations and to the associations of this hemisphere.
“My fellow citizens: let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out. No one can see precisely what course it will take or what costs or casualties will be incurred. Many months of sacrifice and self-discipline lie ahead—months in which our patience and our will will be tested—months in which many threats and denunciations will keep us aware of our dangers. But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing.
“The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are—but it is the one most consistent with our character and courage as a nation and our commitments around the world. The cost of freedom is always high—and Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender or submission.
“Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right—not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world. God willing, that goal will be achieved.
“Thank you and good night.”
“This was a special bulletin from CBS News…”
Russo sat back, stared at the TV, ignored the news program now beginning. After a long moment, he leaned forward, turned the set off, said, “Good God.”
Margaret sat beside him now, said, “What does it mean? Are we going to war?”
Becky said, “What’s happening, Daddy? It sounds scary.”
“I don’t know. He doesn’t want a war, but there may be no choice. The damn Russians have put missiles in Cuba. What the hell?”
Danny was bouncing on the couch with nervous energy, said, “We gonna bomb the Russians? We gonna bomb Cuba?”
Russo tried to organize his thoughts, to respond. But his mind was swirling with images, missiles, bombs, all those trucks that passed through town, on their way to …
“I don’t know, Dan-o. Maybe Kennedy doesn’t know. He’s told the Russians to get out of Cuba, and maybe they will. And maybe they won’t. If they don’t … this could be pretty serious.”
Margaret said, “Joe, how serious?”
He hesitated, couldn’t just say the words … nuclear war. After a silent moment, he said, “Maybe we should have built our own fallout shelter.”