Profile in Courage In the political thriller Thirteen Days,
Kevin Costner explores the Cuban Missile Crisis and how John and
Robert Kennedy saved the world. From the Print Edition: Kevin
Costner, Nov/Dec 00 (continued from page 1) On the evening of
October 22, 1962, President Kennedy addressed the American
people from the Oval Office: Within the past week, unmistakable
evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive
missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island.
The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a
nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere.... It
shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile
launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere
as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring
a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union... While the
Pentagon went to "Defcon 2" (Defcon 5 is peace; Defcon 1 is war)
and the world anxiously held its breath, Salinger remembers
walking with Kenned