Blue Moon over Cuba

For you history buffs the title of this thread is also the title of a new book just released. It is a docmentary of the 13 days of the Cuban crisis. Even tho I was directly involved I never realized just how much of a crisis it really was. We really did come mightly close to WW-III during that time. Operation Blue Moon was the code name given to the operations to obtain very low level photography of the missile sites being built in Cuba. The book is authored by my former skipper deceased Captain William B. Ecker USN (ret.) and co-authored by a former shipmate of mine Kenneth Jack. If you are into history or not it really is great reading.

This book really hit close to home for me. I was sent to Key West for the duration and my job (along with a few others) was to make sure all 6 cameras in the planes had full loads of film and were working properly. It was really pretty much routine as we were not told what was really going on and where the planes were going. After reading this book all I can say is "HOLY S#@#!!!!!"

I was there Bill. Spent most of my time patrolling the runway and tarmac at Gitmo. You could see the Cubans looking down from the cliffs above Gitmo. M1 with no rounds. ha

where was Don G

Thanks for the heads up. Will have to load it on my Kindle next time we go camping.

Just checked and it is not available on Kindle. Did request it to be though.

Thanks, got to read that one. One of the guys I grew up with was a Senior Chief in UDT 21 at the time. He talked about doing beach recon for an invasion and that some of his guys had entered the harbors to recon Russian ships. Like you said most folks don't realize how close we were to the big one. I still remember the duck and cover drills in school, kinda silly thinking about it now as Norfolk being the home of the Atlantic Fleet would have been one of the first places nuked.

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Originally Posted by Barnacle Bill

For you history buffs the title of this thread is also the title of a new book just released. It is a docmentary of the 13 days of the Cuban crisis. Even tho I was directly involved I never realized just how much of a crisis it really was. We really did come mightly close to WW-III during that time. Operation Blue Moon was the code name given to the operations to obtain very low level photography of the missile sites being built in Cuba. The book is authored by my former skipper deceased Captain William B. Ecker USN (ret.) and co-authored by a former shipmate of mine Kenneth Jack. If you are into history or not it really is great reading.

This book really hit close to home for me. I was sent to Key West for the duration and my job (along with a few others) was to make sure all 6 cameras in the planes had full loads of film and were working properly. It was really pretty much routine as we were not told what was really going on and where the planes were going. After reading this book all I can say is "HOLY S#@#!!!!!"

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BB,
My wife's brother was deployed during the crisis and no one in the family knew where he was until it was over. He was a camera tech in the Air Force stationed out of Shaw AFB in SC. His name was Archie Williams, we lost him to cancer a couple of years after the retired from the AF. Any of you that were there happen to run into him?? He was one heck of a fisherman. He fished the upper Santee Cooper Lakes and knew the swamps like a water snake.
SeaRay