The Open Forum Remembering the Cuban Missile Crisis

Re: “Paratrooper exercise is all about the preparation – and the jump,” March 17 news story

The article about paratroopers, their preparation and the jump rekindled memories of similar types of military exercises we did when I was a private first class paramedic in the 82nd Airborne Division, 1961-1964.

Our military maneuvers were from our post at Ft. Bragg, N.C., with jumps in unknown locations in South Carolina. The war games, called “Swift Strike,” divided the division into the red and blue armies, complete with referees to determine who won or lost the battles — in other words, who lived and who was killed! They were just military exercises, preparing the troopers if those days ever came. Well, they did.

The 82nd Airborne Division, called “America’s Guard of Honor,” is a strike force dispatched on a minute’s notice to places around the world. It was inspiring to learn that such exercises are now done with other countries. Honestly, it is diplomacy at its best.

Then, in November 1963, President John F. Kennedy issued an ultimatum on national TV to the Soviet Union leadership to withdraw Russian missiles discovered in Cuba or the United States would take defensive action.

Within hours after the speech, I was among paratroopers from the 82nd flying on C-130 aircraft to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, where we remained for 13 days until the Russians decided to withdraw the missiles and turn around their ships that were loaded with more missiles bound to Cuba.

Alvin Rivera, Pueblo