US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy Speech turns 55 Years | "The Fruit of Any Victory in Ashes in Our Mouths"

The missile crisis in Cuba was one of the main threats to world peace after World War II

"Good afternoon, fellow citizens, this government, as promised, has maintained a strict watch over the operations of the Soviet Army on the island of Cuba, " with these words US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was beginning a speech called will not change the course of history.

On Oct 22nd is the 55th anniversary of that crucial speech, which was broadcast both on radio and on a television still in black and white, and that paralyzed a nation that listened attentively to each of its 2,434 words, eleven of which coincided : "nuclear".

Some words that would change the world, even if in fact they were uttered precisely to the contrary, so that it would not change, to avoid a possible nuclear holocaust that would have made, the president said, "the fruit of any victory in ashes in our mouths" 

At this point, the stage is well known by all. On October 14, 1962, photographs taken by U2 planes from the US intelligence service revealed the presence of eight shuttles and 16 medium-range missiles in the western region of the island. 

"It was clear that these strategic weapons, which were reliable and modern, were destined to be managed by the Soviet Union and not to be transferred to Cuba," the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said in an unclassified report. 

This information gave way to thirteen days of tension in which any error of calculation could have given rise to a conflict of consequences difficult to imagine.

Fundamental attitude

"The president's attitude was critical to defusing the crisis," Kennedy said. "It was the intention of President Kennedy to avoid any nuclear exchange, whether voluntary or accidental," said Defense Department Chief Erin Mahan.

One of the key measures taken by the leader was the creation of a working group of trusted advisers, most of whom belonged to the National Security Council.

It was this group of experts who called for deaf ears of those responsible for the General Staff, who were betting on an air attack on Cuba, and for opening a negotiation with the Kremlin through non-traditional channels, while blocking the island to avoid the arrival of new weapons. 

This decision would be doubly successful, not only because in the end proved to be the correct way to settle the crisis, but also because the air attack would have followed the subsequent landing of US troops on the island and that would have been a serious action failure. 

Despite numerous reports by the intelligence services, what US intelligence was unaware of at the time was that Russian troops deployed in Cuba were also equipped with nuclear weapons, which "could have ended" with the troops, Mahan said. 

"Through initiatives by unofficial channels, the United States agreed not to invade Cuba and withdraw its missiles from Turkey." (Soviet Nikita) Khrushchev pledged to dismantle and remove Soviet missiles and light bombers from Cuba, "he said. the historian of the Pentagon.

The other key measure of this crisis also had the words as the protagonist and was none other than the historic presidential address. Since in informing the American people, with open hearts, Kennedy was legitimated to act with total freedom knowing that his honesty had gained the support of the whole country. 

"The road we have chosen at the moment is full of dangers, like all roads, but it is the most coherent with our character and our value as a nation ... And a road we will never choose is the road to surrender and submission, "Kennedy concluded in his address. 

And, in fact, that was the key. Find a way in which there were no losers, but no winners . Possibly the only way he could stop someone from ending that nasty ash taste in his mouth.