Terror Week

Fifteen year old Robbie had been having a great year! It was 1962 and the "Space Race" between the United States and the Soviet Union was going strong, the World's Fair in Seattle had the "Space Needle", John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth and President Kennedy had made his famous "space speech" vowing to have a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

The Cold War was going strong too, casting a shadow over everything, but most, including Robbie, could usually ignore it, finding it hard to believe that anyone would start a war that would destroy the world.

It was a great year for music, too, with the likes of Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Robbie's favorites "The Four Seasons".

Everything changed, though, for one terrifying week, when President Kennedy announced to the nation that the Soviets had placed missiles in Cuba that could reach any location in the United States. He was demanding that they be removed and if they were not, it would be considered an attack on the United States and full nuclear war could be the result.

Robbie continued going to school, but like most people he wasn't really hearing what anyone was saying. They were being taught to "duck and cover" but everyone knew that it was a useless exercise.

He asked his parents what they could do if the missiles started flying, but it was clear that they were as afraid as he was and had no real answer. Life continued, but at the same time seemed to stop as the anxiety increased day after terrible day, until finally, the Soviets announced they were removing the missiles and he knew they were safe - or at least as safe as they were before that week of terror.

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