Air Force retiree recalls October 1962

MOSES LAKE - U.S. Air Force control and warning operator Mac Anderson sat inside a Moses Lake movie theater on Oct. 21, 1962.

"About 30 minutes into the movie, the Moses Lake air raid siren was activated," Anderson said. "Our hearts nearly stopped as we ran for our car and sped back to the base."

Anderson, 19 at the time, was stationed at Larson Air Force Base from February 1962 until September 1963.

In October of 1962, the country was facing the threat of nuclear missiles being placed in Cuba and the Soviet Union. The event is known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Forty-five years and a day later, Anderson enjoys retirement in Bakersfield, Calif., and still remembers the historical event.

He remembers when soldiers learned the Moses Lake siren was activated by accident. Anderson described the effect of it as chilling.

"We were already on pins and needles, expecting that we were probably going to go to war," he said.

According to the U.S. Library of Congress archives, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev devised the idea to bring nuclear missiles to Cuba in May 1962. The Soviet Union secretly began building the missiles, according to the archives. On Oct. 22 President John F. Kennedy revealed knowledge of the installations to the public, and he said if a nuclear missile attack came from Cuba, the Soviet Union would be blamed.

Anderson said the survivability of Larson Air Force Base was poor, considering their surroundings. Not only were the headquarters and base strong targets for the Soviet Union, so were surrounding bases, three missile complexes and Grand Coulee Dam, he said.

"We were not expected to survive more than three hours in the event of a global nuclear war, which we believed was eminent," Anderson said.

The night after the false alarm, Anderson and other Air Force personnel made calls to their families, believing they may never speak with them again.

The scariest point in the Cuban Missile Crisis for Anderson was not the false alarm sounding. The scariest point for him was when the U.S. military intended to quarantine Russian ships headed to Cuba. The base was in Defcon 2 status, which meant an attack was expected to come soon, he said.

Aircraft loaded with nuclear missiles were lined up on the runways at Fairchild Air Force Base, he said.

Anderson's intelligence officer briefed the troops on details about the ships, including estimated time of arrival.

"This was as close as we had ever come or have come to global nuclear war," Anderson said. "Thanks be to God, the Russians blinked."

The reason Anderson believes the Russians backed down is their belief the United States would retaliate full force. At the end of the night's shift, Anderson felt relief that nothing happened.

Khrushchev agreed on Oct. 28 to dismantle missile installations in Cuba, according to the U.S. Library of Congress archives.

Anderson said Moses Lake residents were friendly to Air Force personnel during their time stationed at Larson Air Force Base. He recalled a time he needed a new engine for his car, and a business in town let him make payments for the engine whenever he could.

"We loved the people of Moses Lake. They were so good to us," he said.

Some of Anderson's fond memories of the city include fishing in Moses Lake, eating at an Italian restaurant that offered live music on weekends and working for a crop-dusting service called Northwest Helicopters, Inc. He is now a retired assistant police chief living in his hometown of Bakersfield, Calif.

"I'd love to (return) someday. That's on my agenda of things to do," he said.