On this day Defcon 2

[John A Silkstone]

1962 - During the Cuban Missile Crisis, U.S. military forces went to DEFCON 2, the highest military alert ever reached in the postwar era, as military commanders prepared for full-scale war with the Soviet Union.

 

[GunBunnyInaMAB]

Yeah, and it's SCARY how close the US really came to full scale nuclear war. It's a good thing the Russians backed down because Kennedy wasn't going to.