This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Meg Claveau-Family
to remember
Martinez, Jr., Felix, SKC USN(Ret).
If you knew or served with this Sailor and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Contact Info
Home Town San Antonio
Last Address Costa Mesa, CA
Date of Passing Aug 23, 2002
Location of Interment Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery (VA) - San Diego, California
Wall/Plot Coordinates Section CBDD, Row 2, Site 26
Description The blockade began October 21 and, the next day, Kennedy delivered a public address alerting Americans to the situation. In his speech, he warned a frightened American public that the missiles on Cuba were capable of hitting Washington, D.C. or anywhere in the southeastern portion of the country, the Panama Canal, Mexico City or “as far north as Hudson Bay, Canada, and as far south as Lima, Peru.” A military confrontation appeared imminent when Kennedy told his audience that he ordered the evacuation of the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and put military units on standby. Boldly, he stated, “one path we shall never choose is the path of surrender or submission.”
Khrushchev responded by sending additional ships—possibly carrying military cargo—toward Cuba and by allowing construction at the missile sites to continue. Over the following six days, the Cuban Missile Crisis, as it is now known, brought the world to the brink of global nuclear war while the two leaders engaged in tense negotiations via telegram and letter.
Fortunately by October 28, Kennedy and Khrushchev had reached a settlement and people on both sides of the conflict breathed a collective but wary sigh of relief. The Cuban missile sites were dismantled and, in return, Kennedy agreed to close U.S. missile sites in Turkey.
.png?ixlib=java-2.3.0&w=100&s=4cabb16c4bb63567ecc81f2bec05c4b6 "Did the Ditch (Suez Canal)")
