I remember the day very well. I’d just gotten out of boot camp and gotten an assignement to a destroyer out of the Philadelphia Naval Yards. I reported aboard in the morning and we got underweigh for the coast of Cuba in the afternoon.
I was in high school at Wm T Sherman on the friday before (10/18) and we could only speculate about why 707’s were landing and taking off on a regular basis. We went to school Monday morning, only to be told to prepare to go home and pack a bag. Mom was ready when we got home, and they piled us into “cattle cars”, headed for the dock, and we quickly sailed. Some took flights back, but most dependents were onboard Upshur.
I heard the mention of Guantanamo on the news this morn, and it struck a memory chord!
A family friend was in the navy during the crisis on the USS Independence aircraft carrier. He said for nearly three weeks straight he stayed at his battle station on the Indy.
My Dad tells of how he started driving home from his construction job and wondered if there would be a job or anything else in three or four days.