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OPERATIONS OVER CUBA
Updated March 14, 2008
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Contributions are invited
Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon
In short, we photo-beanies were most appreciative of the fighter guys who were there to cover us in spades...What a wonderful thought it was to know that they were waiting for us at our exit from the beach. And when we did, they would radio to say that our tails were clear. -Capt. Ed. Feeks
Painting by the movie, "13 Days", storyboard artist. It depicts a couple of VFP-62 photo Crusaders leaving Cuba, low over the water & a Cuban fishing boat. Contributed by Dave Johnson, former F8 pilot, a resource for the film, and webmaster of Gunfighter's Site
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...the Cuban Missile Crisis was no crisis for VFP-62, because we could do anything asked of us...John DeChant CDR USN Ret.
President Kennedy presenting the Navy Unit Commendation to VFP-62
Above photo Courtesy of Bill Hile -- Click on picture to enlarge
"It was truly an exciting time."
Cdr John DeChant
"We did not have much build-up time...[for] The Cuban missile crisis; We had 29 aircraft, 7 Detachments, using 20 of them, and 2 not flyable (cannibalized). We only had 2 or 3 with the new 5 inch format Chicago Aerial Cameras installed, that worked. The mission called for 8 camera ready Birds, and we had 7. I had never seen so many FLASH messages, and near instant supply response.
We commandeered 4 aircraft from the VMCJ outfit at Cherry Pt, (most of their stuff didn’t work; stab systems, as well as cameras),and all they had installed were the old 70 mm cameras.
We got the word late Monday, and the first mission was set for the following Sunday at 8AM, for 8
camera ready birds to take off from Key West. It took a minor miracle but we did it.
There is a whole lot more to this story that most folks don’t know. Sunny Jim Curry was a J.O. not yet assigned to a detachment and he flew test hops day and night, checking the latest tweek on camera systems. We had to ensure that everything would work at high speed low level (500 ft,550-600 knots). We didn’t usually operate that way. It was truly an exciting time."
John DeChant Cdr, USN Ret and Squadron Maintenance Officer during the Cuban Missile Crisis
VFP-62 Operations Pictures During
Cuban Missile Crisis
VFP-62 Low-Level Recon Photos
Cuban Missile Crisis
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Credits: Hi Ken & Owen:
I talked to my Dad [Capt William Ecker, CO VFP-62 during the Cuban Missile Crisis] a few days ago on the phone about the need for a glossy picture of a Russian Missile Base. He said that he did not have any; however, I asked him to call Mr. Dino Brugioni, who was a Senior Official at the National Photographic Interpretation Center during the Cuban Missile Crisis and to ask Dino for some pictures. Mr. Brugioni wrote the book "Eyeball to Eyeball: The Inside Story of the Cuban Missile Crisis" and he and my Dad developed a friendship based on their both being involved in The Crisis.
Well, my Dad must have called him because I just received 6 beautiful glossy photos from Mr. Brugioni. I'm not sure that 2 of them are what you are looking for; however, the remaining 4 are actual photos of Russian Missile Bases and 2 of them might be just what you are looking for. They have the equipment within the base labeled and (in my opinion) would be perfect in an exhibit.
David Ecker [son of W.B. Ecker]
[Webmaster's Note: These photos will be part of an exhibit show case, by the RF8 Crusader, restored at Battleship Park, Mobile AL. The exhibit case contains memorabilia, donated by VFP-62 squadron members, to inform the public on the role VFP-62 and the RF8 played in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Our thanks to Owen Miller, Battleship Park, for scanning these photos for our site.]
Click on following links for more information
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During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the United States first learned that Russia was moving nuclear tipped missiles to Cuba by the U2 photo reconaissance plane. The U2 flew at very high altitudes and made the first discovery of the missiles. However, there was a need for closer to the ground photographs to determine with more detail the nature of this threat. This required the supersonic RF-8's capabilities.
VFP-62 flew missions over Cuba and provided the photographic evidence President Kennedy needed to confront and evenutally eliminate the threat. VFP-62 RF-8s also flew photo missions over Russian ships coming towards Cuba to determine the nature of their cargo. When Russia decided to pull out the missiles, RF-8s followed the ships back to Russia. The RF-8s flew low and fast and none were shot down.
Crusader overflights of Cuba began on 23 October 1962, under the code name "Blue Moon". Flights of RF-8As from Navy reconnaissance squadron VFP-62, operating in several pairs of aircraft with each pair assigned a different target, left Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West twice each day, to streak in over Cuba at low level, then return to NAS Jacksonville, where the film was offloaded and developed, to be rushed north to the Pentagon. Four Marine pilots were temporarily assigned to VFP-62 for the missions, though they flew Navy RF-8As.
VFP-62 pilots received the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Some Great Links for More Cuban Missile Crisis Information
Before the Cuban Missile Crisis, There was
The Bay of Pigs Invasion and
VFP-62 "Gray Ghosts"
Frank W. Schrader,AE2, Det 41-60 USS Independence, recalls painting their RF-8's (F8U-1P's) all gray and their mysterious mission during the Bay of Pigs
"Any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile ... can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction, 'I served in the United States Navy.'" President John F. Kennedy, 1963, Annapolis MD
Photo: John F. Kennedy addresses the nation during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
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President Kennedy presenting the Navy Unit Commendation to VFP-62 
