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Thirteen Days (2000) - Full Reaction (Patreon)

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2024-02-19 10:30:02
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2026-06
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Wooww this had me hooked! The tension was unreal... even though we all know history's endgame!😊Also discovering the personal side of historical figures, like the close relationship in the White House, was so interesting. I don't know how accurate this was, but it's movies like this that make me want to explore the true stories behind them! Hope you enjoy!

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[Full Reaction] Thirteen Days (2000)

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Andy Eggroll

Hopefully you’ll react to IP Man soon

Omar

This was my first ever request on this channel, looking fwd to watching later tonight 👍🏽. And on the historical accuracy, one item to note is that the Kennedy family did have an objection to the film portraying Kenny Odonnel (Costners character) as being equivalent to Bobby in Jack’s circle. Kenny Odonnel was one of Jacks closer guys, but nobody was closer to Jack than Bobby.

Henry Graham

If you want to delve further into this history, I can highly recommend the book One Minute to Midnight by Michael Dobbs. It's a deeply researched examination of the Cuban Missile Crisis told from the perspectives of the US, Soviet and Cuban sides, and it goes through the key crisis points in an hour-by-hour way that creates a gripping urgency. I found it to be a real page-turner, and it's astonishing and sobering to read about the number of misunderstandings and random events that could have so easily sparked nuclear destruction.

Choof

First time watching this....I think it'd be for the best if Kevin Costner never tried to use an accent

Björn Von Knorring

The movie is pretty accurate. Kevin O’Donnell (Kevin Costners character) wasn’t nearly as involved as he was in the movie but otherwise it is quite good. I believe his son was involved in the making of the movie so that’s why his role was bigger.

James UK

I loved this movie when it came out. It must have appealed to the former politics student in me. As with all movies of this nature not everything is complete accurate. For the sake of drama and brevity numerous meeting over the same period were condensed into a smaller number on screen. Perhaps the biggest break from reality was KCs character. Kenny O’Donnell had an insignificant role in the crisis but he’s used in the movie as a story telling device. Beyond that the essence of the movie is scarily accurate to the extent that some of the dialogue was taken directly from the Kennedy tapes, JFK’s then secret recordings of his meetings at the White House. I’m glad you enjoyed it.

Dryfesands

A superb movie. Taught, nerve-wracking, the highest stakes and reasonably faithful to history. If Cassie is feeling strong (and I mean *VERY* strong), she should try the British TV movie "Threads" to see what happens if cooler heads don't prevail. Just about the most shattering and horrific movie ever made.

Henry Graham
>>130082954

I saw Threads once, over twenty years ago. I don't think I'll ever watch it again because it is still seared indelibly into my memory. Always my go-to answer when people ask what's the scariest film I've ever seen. It's absolutely mind-blowing to think that a film this horrific was broadcast on the BBC on a Sunday night.

Daniel Fuchs

Hey Cassie. Also watch another thriller: The sum of all fears (2002) with Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman

Jake McNulty

Hi Cassie, if you're interested in learning the history behind the films you watch then I highly recommend checking out History Buffs on YouTube. His videos are informative and entertaining. Here's his "Thirteen Days" video, hope you enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p--VdXM6OvQ

Marcos

Kennedy made secret (at the time) tapes of many of these conversations and meetings. The transcripts were edited into a book: https://www.amazon.com/Kennedy-Tapes-Inside-during-Missile/dp/0674179269?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= and some audio is online too, e.g. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/audio.htm Some of the lines in the movie come straight from these tapes! like LeMay saying the president was "in a pretty bad fix." But as others have said, O' Donnell's role was almost certainly overstated in the movie. The DVD and I think the Blu-ray have some neat special features like a text-only commentary track with historical info overlayed and some commentary from historical figures. Unfortunately the version I have purchased on iTunes/Apple doesn't have any bonus features.

Marcos
>>130087287

(Kennedy was the last president I think to not have a "Chief of Staff". O' Donnell was the equivalent though.)

Ike
>>130082410

It's one of my favorite movies also! I was not aware of what the Kennedy's thought (none of them were there), but I do know that McNamara took 'some' issue with O'Donnell being in every meeting and seeming to run-the-show. However, I think the film is trying to convey Bobby and Ken's close friendship - they were roommates and football teammates together at Harvard. I would say O'Donnell was in Jack's (read: White House) inner circle, but I agree with you that NO ONE was in the family's inner circle.

Ike

Yes, one of my favorite movies. Plus, kids get to sleep in today! (no school!). I've enjoyed Popcorn POTUS Week so far, I can't wait to watch this one.

William

Bobby Kenedy was assassinated as well soon after JFK. Turkey is part of NATO and the Russian's did not like USA nuclear missles were based there. So they decided to put Nuclear missiles in Cuba, a Comminist country and ally of the Soviet;s since Castro took over. And yes, it came that close

Rich Campbell

So thrilled Cassie's done Watergate and the Cuban Missile Crisis this week. Cool.

christopher b swanson

haven't seen this in years, and just finished this full reaction........good movie, but it would have been a classic if it had tighter editing and had about 20 minutes cut out, esp the entire family stuff.....should have been just about the crisis, not a biopic, but I assume that was added to lure Costner to star which then in turn got it financed.......I watched the full reaction of all the president's men and felt the same way but I forgive that being 25 years older than this...............series idea...the west wing

Cole Jennett
>>130091256

She’s talked a number of times about loving The West Wing. It’s her identifier for a lot of actors she’s come across in other reactions.😊

Clay F

Enjoyed your reaction. Awesome movie. Adlai did not tell the press. JFK as President was commander-in-chief, and thus got to make the decision whether blockade or air strike. No vote needed. As you saw in the movie, the Cuban Missile Crisis was in October 1962. JFK was assassinated in November 1963. (I was 4 months old.) As a kid and young adult, I read/watched much about the assassination, and was not a big fan of the conspiracy theories. The movie JFK (1991) is great filmmaking w/stellar performance by Costner, but I refuse to rewatch because of the dubious history. Bobby was assassinated in 1968 (the same year that MLK was assassinated). The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military landing operation on the coast of Cuba in 1961 (JFK's first year in office) by the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front consisting of Cuban exiles (who opposed Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution) and was covertly financed and directed by the U.S. government. Other than Bobby, Kenneth O'Donnell (played by Costner) was JFK's closest friend and confidant. O'Donnell was the closest aide/advisor to JFK in the White House. O'Donnell spent much time discussing politics with JFK and acting as a sounding board for JFK's ideas. At times, O'Donnell was mistaken for a Secret Service agent because he hovered so near to JFK. In the White House, O'Donnell's office was nearly adjacent JFK. They spent time one-on-one, and thus no one really knows how much influence that O'Donnell had on JFK regarding the Cuban Missile Crisis. I think the movie filled in blanks and took liberty to show O'Donnell having an influential role.

Popcorn In Bed
>>130082640

was that irish american? genuinely curious! Although what movie was it where he didn’t have an accent and ppl were bugged?

2-Can

Well, you liked 13 Hours, now you liked 13 Days, can't wait until they make 13 Weeks for you to react to! Or maybe the pre-quel, 13 Minutes.

Just Plain Bob

Great movie about an extremely dangerous time in our history. For more on the Cuban Missile Crisis, I highly recommend “Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis” by Serhii Plokhy. It’s a great book, based on public records (many of which were previously classified), personal memoirs of participants, interviews and secret recordings of high level White House meetings. The most frightening revelations in the book all dealt with misunderstanding between Soviet and American leadership and military commanders. Time and time again, the two opposing sides mistook one another’s actions to mean something other than what was intended. Crucial to understanding the Soviet desire to place missiles in Cuba is the relationship between John F. Kennedy and Nikita Kruschev as well as the technology available to each leader’s country. Prior to the crisis, Kennedy and Kruschev had met discuss the division of Berlin. The Soviets wanted NATO out of Berlin and, per the accounts of those present at the meetings, Kruschev had dominated Kennedy in their discussions (even though Kennedy had never acquiesced to the Soviet’s desires). These interactions led Kruschev to believe that he could bully the younger and less experienced Kennedy. Meanwhile, in regard to national defense, the Soviet Union was forced to rely on missiles that used liquid fuel. The United States had developed the far preferable solid-propellant rocket fuel. Using liquid fuel meant that the Soviets had to spend hours fueling their intercontinental ballistic missiles on gantries that were open to attack before they were ready for launch. On the other hand, the use of solid-propellants meant that the U.S. missile inventory was perpetually fueled and prepared to launch on a moment’s notice and could be stored in hardened silos (protecting them from attack), giving the U.S. a significant advantage when it came to first-strike capability. Kruschev’s belief that he could bully Kennedy, coupled with a desire to develop a meaningful first strike capability and close the missile gap created by America’s better rocket fuel, led Kruschev to the belief that he could place missiles in Cuba without fear of reprisal – even if those missiles were detected prior to full deployment. Unfortunately for the Soviet leader, he had woefully underestimated the American president’s resolve, which had only been steeled by their earlier meetings. Of course, U-2 overflights detected the placement of missiles in Cuba well before their full deployment, leading to the standoff depicted in the movie. Early in the crisis, Kennedy was inclined to launch a full ground invasion of Cuba. His brother, Robert Kennedy, was among the most hawkish of his advisors and favored a full scale invasion. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed and JFK decided against it. Unknown to Kennedy, Soviet commanders on the ground in Cuba were armed with tactical nukes and had been given autonomous authority to launch those nukes if attacked. So, if a ground assault had been attempted, tens of thousands of American soldiers would almost certainly have been killed, likely resulting in a broadening of the conflict and possible nuclear war. One particularly frightening episode in the crisis involved the naval blockade of Cuba. U.S. airplanes and ships tracked and harassed a Soviet submarine as it approached the blockade. They used practice charges and grenades to try and force the sub to the surface. It eventually surfaced, but only to recharge its diesel engines. While the ship was on the surface, an American plane dropped flares to better illuminate the sub. Soviet sailors would later claim that other U.S. planes fired tracers over the surfaced sub. The captain of the sub mistakenly believed the sub was under attack and gave the order to load its single tactical nuclear torpedo in one of the torpedo tubes, preparatory to firing. Realizing that the situation had gotten out of control, an American ship frantically signaled (using signal lights) the sub an apology and its assurance that no attack was intended. Fortunately, the Soviet signal officer was temporarily delayed when going back down the conning tower when his light became temporarily jammed in the narrow quarters. He saw the American signal and informed his captain that they were not under attack. Although the nuclear torpedo remained in the tube, the immediate crisis was averted. Anyway, sorry to go on at such length. But this is one of those occasions in which real world events were far more dramatic than anything a Hollywood script writer could imagine and I’m a bit of history junkie. It’s an incredible story and this film did a superb job of capturing the real world problems faced by Kennedy and his advisors. So glad Cassie watched it.

Jay Davis

A good option if you'd like more insider info about what went on during (and after) the Cuban missile crisis is Errol Morris' 2004 documentary The Fog of War. It's about Robert McNamara and he discusses the crisis. Putting aside the extraneous (but still very interesting) information and the possible perceptions about the political persuasions of those involved in the project, The Fog of War does give one more insight into what it was like from the perspective of someone who was directly involved.

Steve Holton

No coincidence this crisis occurred just ahead of the November 1962 U.S. midterm elections. Adversarial nations often provoke the U.S. during election cycles to stress our response and influence outcomes. It remains an ongoing bipartisan challenge. One can usually expect at least some provocative missile tests or military drills during this biannual ritual of foreign saber rattling. On the bright side, the following December usually calms to a quieter month and senior military officers enjoy some well-deserved vacation. The Kennedys probably played a lot of fun post-Thanksgiving touch football in Hyannis Port. 🏈

Damien beatty

First, might I say, excellent reaction as always. Second as others have said, it is quite accurate except for the role of Kenny O'Donnell. I must also recommend as Henry Graham has the great book "One Minute to Midnight", but also there is a Youtube channel called History Buffs that covers this movie very well. He always does Historical accuracies of films, and they are always very entertaining. I wish I could remember another book I read many years ago which goes into detail about Berlin and its importance to the world between the end of WW2 and the end of the Vietnam War.

Ike

Oh gosh, I forgot to tie this to Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country. Some mentioned it, but in Star Trek VI General Kang railed against Capt Kirk in the Klingon courtroom, "do you deny" being demoted of these charges, "don't wait for the translation" answer me now! As Star Trek often does, that line of dialogue was an homage to great oratory or literature - in this case - to Ambassador Adlai Stevenson to Russian Amb. Valerian Zorin. Last thing, Russian actors always seem be type-cast, but nevertheless do a good job! Soviet "Papa Spy" Fomin in this movie was also Red October's diving officer, "Vitkor."

Steve Holton

Watching this now. It is amazing to remember how many first strike recommendations the President received. Ironically the later development of the Nuclear Triad, the ability to deliver missiles from 3 different sources: Silos, planes and submarines, reduced some of these tensions. Once there was no way to cripple your enemy’s ability to retaliate, and any attack could be countered with an equal measure of destruction, there was little advantage in a first strike attack and few military leaders on either side could rationally recommend that.

Stick Figure Studios

Very good movie. My knowledge of the Cuban missile crisis was slight before seeing this and I was shocked to learn just how close we came to total annihilation. My favorite line in this movie, and one that I remember with hope at times when I feel like we're getting too close again, is when Costner says, "If the sun comes up tomorrow, it is only because of men of good will. And that's - that's all there is between us and the devil." Looking forward to this reaction.

2-Can

The Cuban Missile Crisis kind of brought the reality of MAD (Mutually-Assured Destruction) strategy to the public as never before. Throughout the 1950's people were aware of it, and home bomb shelters were a thing, but this caused people who generally weren't as concerned to consider the possibilities of how things could quickly escalate beyond their control. Hollywood caught onto this and fed into it - from the serious (The Bedford Incident (1965) - with Sydney Portier) to the absurd (Dr. Strangelove (1964) - all star cast), and in-between (The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966), even War Games (1983) - with Matthew Broderick). The time span of these movies just shows how ingrained into the culture this was.

Old Ulysses

Hi Casey, Interesting fact, in Star Trek 6, when Kirk and Bones were on trial, General Chang yells "Do not wait for the translation, tell me now!". That comes from an exchange between the US and Soviet ambassadors at the UN during this crisis.

2-Can
>>130105144

ps - you've seen The Hunt For Red October and Crimson Tide, both reflect the tensions of the Cold War as well as the navy for story-telling hook since so much can happen out at sea without any of us being at all the wiser. So much so that when either side lost a submarine during the conflict (as happened several times), relations would be even more tense until we could figure out what probably happened. The Cold War is full of stories of the two superpowers coming into close contact at sea and in the air, mostly resulting in pilots flipping each other off (think Maverick and the Mig at the beginning of Top Gun) but sometimes in real stand-offs (eg, we did not allow Russian submarines to trail our missile subs - ever) so we had to be prepared for anything.

Keith Jones

While Kenny O’Donnell's real role was significantly smaller, he was the defacto Chief of Staff for the Kennedy administration (Think Leo from West Wing) That position was very new to the White house and after Nixon's Chief, Haldeman's conviction (you learned about him in "All the Presidents Men") Many felt the position had too much power and Carter ran on a promise not to have a Chief of Staff. But he learned that the White House staff had grown to large that it needed someone to be the "gatekeeper" to the president and appointed Hamilton Jordan about 1/2 way through his term and every president has had one since. It's a fascinating position, and perhaps the most powerful non Senate confirmed position in all the Government, Costner does a great job showing what a Chief of Staff does

sharkey197

To answer your question, I was in second grade when this all went down and even at that tender age, I knew that something really bad was happening. Everyone was on edge. After all, we had to practice those drills where we dived under the desks to avoid the missiles, which would have done no good at all. To address another question, the accent is Boston. The Kennedys and their friends were from Massachusetts. Interesting fact--Christopher Lawson, who played the pilot who got hit with the 'sparrows' is the actual nephew of JFK. The movie is largely accurate as to the events and sequence of events. It also perfectly illustrates the enormous pressure and tension of that time.

Lamar Smith

Dearest Cassie, I’m IN this!!!! I hand Kevin Costner the phone and a cup of coffee in the ‘Chicago Hotel.’ Look close, it’s easy to miss me!

Terry Yelmene

In the history of the world, 'this was the moment' when we (all of humanity) were most endangered. I think this movie gave Cassie a realization of that 'authentic eminent danger'. My father in-law was a naval communications officer temporally assigned to a destroyer during the month of October in 1962. He only admitted he was in the blockade but in his reluctance to elaborate, he seemed upset. I got the feeling even 30 years latter, he relived an un-nerving kind of fear. that never really left him.

Stick Figure Studios
>>130100761

Also the ambassador Bobby met at the Russian embassy almost always plays a Russian or Siav. He was Peter Parker's landlord in SPIDERMAN 2 and 3.

Brent Petty

LOL, If you hate General LeMay now, wait till you watch Masters of the Air.

Miguel

Adlai Stevenson didnt go to the press, he spoke to one of his sources IN the press, and discovered they were about to break the story before Kennedy's speech explaining what was going on. So he was telling the White House that they were about to be undercut by the Times.

Matt Rose

In a just world, this film would have earned some awards consideration.

Thomas Thompson

Loved that I had not seen that film before and of the three. I think that was the one I was least excited about seeing, but I genuinely love that.

Rick Williams

Good movie. This was my first time seeing it. This happened before I was born. But, I would say that your reaction and the way you were feeling was probably close to how people were feeling during this. Great Reaction, Cassie. And to answer your question JFK was assassinated a little over a year after this in November 1963. And his brother was assassinated in 1968.

Texas Anla'Shok

Why does the president not just call Khrushchev? Well, that's one of the reasons that after this crisis there was a hotline installed between Washington and Moscow exactly so they could.

thansen

While I enjoyed this movie a lot, I do prefer The Missiles of October because we do see Kruschev and it's not so centered on O'Donnell. I think about 20 minutes could have been shaved off Thirteen Days. Bruce Greenwood is exceptional as JFK.

Ben Livingstone

Hey, the guy playing Adlai here was Adlai Niska in "Firefly"!

Old Ulysses

If Cassie, or anyone else, is interested in insights on this period, there is the documentary Fog of War. It is an interview with Robert McNamara.

Zachary K. (Swiftie)

So I had totally forgot that the newscaster from Jason Goes To Hell ( Please for the love of God I am not recommending this movie) plays Bobby. Personally I like Michael C. Hall (Dexter) who played JFK in the Netflix show The Crown. I thought he played the perfect JFK. Costner had a perfect Boston accent. JFK suffered from health problems his whole life. Addison's Disease, hyperthyroidism. The public did not know about any of it. Or the numerous affairs he had women he met, worked with. I met Kevin Costner once while cleaning up oil in the Gulf. He was down there promoting some water cleaning tool he invented. Some of our Civil Rights leaders our still living in exile in Cuba due to prosecution from the US Government. If you want a movie this intense about nuclear missiles try the Sum Of All Fears (2002) with Ben Affleck except that was fiction. JFK's American University Speech ( We All Breathe The Same Air) https://youtu.be/RclaV_3_eOA?si=S6DZ2D51RilS9t_7

Omar

Just watched, glad you enjoyed! Side note, the part when JFK responds to “You’re in a pretty bad fix” with “You’re in it with me” actually happened and was recorded on his secret Oval Office tapes, you can hear it here https://youtu.be/nu3pkdCa6uc?si=5ku7PmzErvEkfQ9q

REDR58

Bit of trivia, the actor portraying Robert Kennedy, Steven Culp, previously played Robert Kennedy in the HBO movie “Norma Jean & Marilyn” in 1996. When I first saw this movie when it came out, my girlfriend at the time said the movie felt like it was thirteen days long! I, on the other hand, enjoyed it. :)

Uncle Phoenix
>>130085146

Definitely agree. “THE SUM OF ALL FEARS” Is a great Jack Ryan story. “JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT” wasn’t as good, but it did have the benefit of having Kevin Costner in the cast.

Brian's Dog

Great reaction! You're now prepared for Nuclear Week: Oppenheimer, Wargames, Dr Strangelove.

Robert da Spruce

Excellent reaction Cassie! The actor that portrayed Bobby Kennedy had an uncanny resemblance to the real Bobby Kennedy. I’m a little surprised you didn’t recognize Luther from MI as the…😉 JK different reaction 😊

Brian Harris

There are many, many, many theories about the assassinations of both Kennedy brothers and the reasons behind them. About ten years ago, a former CIA asset named E. Howard Hunt confessed to being part of a conspiracy to kill JFK … but he was very old and sick, and no one knows if that was the truth or the deathbed ravings of a guy who, even regardless of Kennedy, carried around a lot of horrible secrets. Most Americans believe Lee Harvey Oswald, who we were told was responsible for the assassination, did not act alone. I think that’s probably true. How deep the conspiracy goes is impossible to say for certain, but if you’re interested in the subject, JFK would be a good, if absolutely terrifying, watch. And yes, Kennedy was immensely beloved when he was killed. Yes, there were also a lot of people who hated him, people who believed he was soft on the Russians (and it’s possible some of those people were in government and involved in his death, possibly even some of the characters in this movie). But largely, he was perceived as a youthful, invigorating figure who embodied hope and a bright future. He would have won re-election in a walk. The entire country mourned deeply. Many people of my parents’ and grandparents’ generation say nothing was the same after that horrible day.

Robert Durant

The ending gets me the most watching the three of them walk off knowing President Kennedy will be killed in just over a year later and his brother Bobby will be killed in 1968. I often wonder how history would have been different if JFK had not taken that fateful trip to Dallas that day.

Robert Durant
>>130110458

If I remember correctly isn’t the photograph analyst who spots the correct missile in the book “that’s in, that’s the one we’re looking for” the real Kenny Jr. ?

Mojo One Thousand

Not sure if Kevin Costner's accent is a good or bad Massachusetts accent. First time I heard it I thought "Diamond Joe Quimby" from "The Simpsons" may have been the dialect coach. I know "Diamond Joe" is vaguely based on JFK, but I always thought it made to be over-the-top, but maybe it's more accurate than I realise. I did notice that Bruce Greenwood (JFK) did pronounce "bastard" at one point that sounded pretty Australian.

Roger Hagerty

During the crisis they ran regular drills at my school and had us go into the hallways,sit against the wall and put our hands over our heads. Even as a little kid I wondered what that would possibly do to help, but nobody knew. They were all just scared.

John

Duck and cover! Duck and cover! Lol

Jonathan Morerod

FYI on the Berlin Portion - Remember During the 1960s Germany was still 2 Countries- West and East Germany. East Germany was part of the Iron Curtain. Control of Berlin was divided in 2 by the Berlin Wall. An invasion of Cuba would have provoked an Attack by Russia in Berlin and Since West Germany was a NATO ally the USA would have to defend it as part of our treaty with NATO. It truly would have been the start of WW III. This movie is dead on accurate on how the military responded after the Bay of Pigs disaster and was looking for ANY excuse to invade Cuba. Great Movie Choice BTW!

Marcos

Some more context on Adlai Stevenson; he ran (and lost) for President twice as the Democratic nominee in 1952 and 1956. So he has this sort of losing about him to RFK and others. As someone else pointed out, Star Trek VI references the famous "don't wait for the translation" line!

Dana Regan

You can bet your house that the CIA (who were the morons behind the Bay of Pigs debacle) and the top military Generals, and there is proof that the jerk VP Lyndon Johnson knew of the assassination attempt. They wanted either this or to escalate the Vietnam situation, which Kennedy had already said only advisors were going to be sent-no military. Remember, this whole thing with the USSR goes back to General Patton's insult after winning WWII. He said we should have kept on going east and prevent the problem that would become what it did. Patton wasnt wrong, he just had no scruples..he was a soldier and assessed the future then and there.

Bubba Fett

There is a tie in to star trek 6, with the undiscovered country being an allegory for the fall of the soviet union, during Kirk and McCoy's "trial" when they were being grilled by Chang and he said "Do not wait for the translation, answer the question" was intended to allude to the exchange between the ambassadors where they said the same thing.

Lamar Smith
>>130101259

My dear friend, it’s far, far worse than that. There’s no question we were close and we need to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Let’s do remember, though, that no missile actually fired, awesome though that is. Wouldn’t you agree that we could make a case that ‘Broken Arrows’ are worse? We’re comparing, essentially, all of them theoretically going against far, far more incidents of actual nuclear weapons getting out into the wild than most folks know. Sam Harris had on an author on this subject and no less than two incidents might have ended the world….. and those are the ones we know about….. in one case Soviet detectors indicated (utterly falsely) American launches. Some shockingly low-level officer, I want to say a Colonel, was, through the protocols, ordered to fire. Essentially, “In this case, don’t wait, don’t pick up the phone, don’t ask for confirmation…… turn the keys, you have mere moments to act meaningfully in the defense of your nation!” According to his sensors: THIS was happening. No wiggle room to it, he’s legally obligated to do it……. And he doesn’t…. He’s intelligent enough to know that (REALLY dodged a bullet here!) At that moment, nothing was going on. There was no logical reason to launch other than the sensors said what they said and the protocol said when the sensors show you that, send all you got. First, you’d agree that even though we never initially launched, it was a bug in their sensor BTW, we dang sure would have if they did. You can find this man’s name, all of this is based on public records. He takes the time and initiative to confirm.

CG Shunk

The oldest memory that I've retained from almost 65 trips around our star on this little rock is of the day Kennedy was shot. We lived in Buffalo NY and my grandparents had driven from Indianapolis to visit. When they arrived I remember running out of the house shouting to my grandparents, they've shot the president, they've shot the president. What a way to be greeted by your 4 year old grandson. Once the missiles were out of Cuba the flight time was extended from 5 minutes to about 30 minutes as they would now have to fly over the pole. This movie gives a hint at the underlying fear. Up to this point it had been bombers and those could be shot down. Missiles were a different animal, there was no protection from missiles. We grew up knowing that we all could be dead within a half hour at any point in our lives. Couple that with the fact that from about 2nd grade until high school you expected that when you graduated you'd be shipped off to war. As teenagers and young adults they said we didn't take anything seriously, gee I wonder why. During the Regan years we partied a lot as we were sure Ronny was going to push the button at any minute. As an adult I tended to try and live on the far suburban side of a city that would be out of the shockwave and upwind from radioactive fallout. It's not something you dwelled on but if I'm honest I did check it out and consider it. "If the sun comes up tomorrow, it is only because of men of good will. And that's - that's all there is between us and the devil." It's important to try and be men (and women) of good will.

Omar
>>130186085

There were supposedly plots against JFK that were foiled on previous trips to Chicago and Tampa, so it seems like they unfortunately just kept trying =(

Astraeos

Cassie, a political sort of Spy Thriller movie you should absolutely watch is Spy Game. Robert Redford and Brad Pitt.

Tara

Cassie, you mentioned that you recognized the pilot who got shot down. If you've seen the show Nashville, he played Deacon Clayborne