The Cuban Missile Crisis My name is Merlyn Wookey; I am Cody Sparrows Grandfather.

I will relate my thoughts on the Cuban Missile Crisis and how it related to me. In October of 1957 I joined the United States Army. I was stationed in Germany in 1958. There was an incident that occurred in April of that year referred to as the Lebanon Crisis.. Then in May of 1960 a pilot named Francis Gary Powers flying a U-2 plane was downed over the Soviet Union. Each of these incidents was noteworthy in the US and USSR international relations. As a member of the US military they could have had a significant impact on my life. I got out of the Army in 1960 and got married in 1961. Then the Bay of Pigs incident occurred with Cuba in 1961. This was another incident that caused a lot of publicity as Cuba was a sympathizer of and under USSR direction. Then the Cuban Missile Crisis happened in October of 1962. At the time of the Missile Crisis we were living in a basement apartment at 355 Emerson in Denver. We heard of the crisis through the news media, it was all over the newspapers, radio and television. We listened to President Kennedys speech about the crisis on the television. I was somewhat concerned as this could possibly be the start of another World War between the two superpowers of the world. Our daily life did not change. We were still concerned about making a living and bettering our life style. Our friends were in the same financial position and age group and we did not spend a lot of time discussing the crisis. We did not make any special preparations for food or other shelter. As we were living in a basement apartment we felt secure. There was no bomb shelters around that I knew of. Being in Denver gave us a feeling of security versus being on the East Coast and closer to Cuba. As I stated in the beginning of this biography, I had the Lebanon crisis, the Gary Powers U2 Crisis, the Bay of Pigs Crisis then the Cuban Missile Crisis. All within the space of 5 years, after a number of crises they do not have as great an impact as the first one.

Our life continued on as usual. We did not have enough money to do any stockpiling of water, groceries or special clothing. If the city or county did anything special in the event of a nuclear response, I do not remember what it would have been. I wasnt overly concerned about the missile crisis, but I do remember that I was happy when I heard that the Russian ships headed to Cuba turned around and returned to Russia.