Major Rudolf Anderson Jr. was flying a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft over eastern

1962 Event

U-2 Shot Down Over Cuba: Missile Crisis Peaks

Major Rudolf Anderson Jr. was flying a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft over eastern Cuba on October 27, 1962, when a Soviet SA-2 surface-to-air missile exploded beneath his plane at 72,000 feet. Anderson was killed instantly, becoming the only American combat casualty of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The shoot-down occurred on 'Black Saturday,' the most dangerous day of the crisis: a U-2 had also strayed into Soviet airspace over Siberia that morning, and Soviet submarines armed with nuclear torpedoes were being depth-charged by the U.S. Navy near the quarantine line. Kennedy's advisors, particularly the Joint Chiefs, demanded immediate retaliation. Kennedy refused and continued negotiating. Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles the following day. Anderson received the first Air Force Cross ever awarded, posthumously.

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October 27, 1962

64 years ago

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U-2 Shot Down Over Cuba: Missile Crisis Peaks

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