Paul's 50th High School Reunion

Did You Know? - Lee and Paul went to "Grad Night" together. After the affair, we decided to drive to Ventura and have breakfast! We had two other couples with us in the old 1962 Chevy Impala Supersport. Paul remembers when we finally got back home, all six of us pledged to get together every ten years!

Lee and Paul honored the pledge after twenty years, fourty years, and as of this evening (6/23/2012) fifty years! FIFTY YEARS.... Wow!

Our problem is that we can't remember the two other couples that was with us that morning??? Do you remember???/

Did You Know? - 1962 the cars continued to evolve as more compacts appeared and sold well in the US. The Cold War continued to worsen when the Russians placed Ballistic Missiles on Cuban land just 90 miles away from the coast of Florida in and JFK called the bluff by threatening war unless they were removed which they were but for a short time the world was on the brink of nuclear war and self destruction.

The president then set a goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the decade and became more involved in politics in Southeast Asia by training South Vietnamese pilots. Folk music was evolving into protest music thanks to young artists like Bob Dylan and the birth of Surfing music by the beach boys grew in popularity meanwhile in England the Beatles record the single "Love Me Do". The new hit on TV for that year was "The Beverly Hillbillies" and the first of the James Bond movies "Dr No" was an instant success, some of the other movies released included "Spartacus" and "El Cid".

Did You Know? - OMG! Amazing how well we were managed in the 190's!!

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $585.2 billion
Federal spending:   $106.82 billion
Federal debt:   $302.9 billion
Consumer Price Index:   30.2
Unemployment:   6.7%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.04

Did You Know? - KFWB (August, 1962)

6-9 a.m. - GARY OWENS

9 a.m.-12 noon - ELLIOT FIELD

12 noon-3 p.m. - JOE YOCAM

3-6 p.m. - GENE WEED

6-9 p.m. - B. MITCHELL REED

9 p.m.-12 midnight - BOBBY DALE

12 midnight-6 a.m. - ROGER CHRISTIAN

Weekends - BILL BALLANCE

Did You Know? -

• Marilyn Monroe dies of a drug overdose at age 36.
• The first transatlantic television transmission occurs via the Telstar Satellite, making worldwide television and cable networks a reality.
• Government regulations force studios out of the talent agency business.
• Johnny Carson takes over hosting duties of The Tonight Show.

Did You Know? - Our eyes were looking up

• Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr. , is first American to orbit Earth—three times in 4 hours 55 minutes (Feb. 20). Background: US Staffed Space Flights
• Mariner II, the first interplanetary probe, reaches Venus . Background: US Unstaffed Planetary and Lunar Programs
• Unimation introduces the first industrial robot.
• The commercially sponsored Telstar communications satellite is launched.

Did You Know? - We lost some amazing people in 1962! Do you remember the events?

• Niels Bohr
  
  
• William Faulkner
  
  
• Ernie Kovacs
  
  
• Eleanor Roosevelt

Did You Know? - Statistics are quite interesting!

President: John F. Kennedy
Vice President: Lyndon B. Johnson
Population: 186,537,737
Life expectancy: 70.1 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 20.2
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 18.6
Homicide Rate (per 100,000): 4.8

Did You Know? - How Much things cost in 1962

Yearly Inflation Rate USA 1.20%
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 3.6%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 652
Average Cost of new house $12,500.00
Average Income per year $5,556.00
Average monthly rent $110.00 per month
Tuition to Harvard University $1,520.00
All Wheel Drive Scout off road $2,150.00
Renault Imported car $1,395.00
Average Cost of a new car $3,125.00
Eggs per dozen 32 cents
Gas per Gallon 28 cents
Factory Workers Average Take Home Pay with 3 dependents $94.87
Below are some Prices for UK guides in Pounds Sterling
Average House Price 2,950
New Ford Cortina 591

Did You Know? - Cuban Missile Crisis was as close to war with the USSR we ever got!

• Cuban Missile Crisis when USSR plans to deploy Missiles in Cuba brings the world to the brink of world war, the US blockades Cuba and the USSR agrees to dismantle Soviet Silos Begins On October 15th ends on November 20th

More Information and Timeline For The Cuban Missile Crisis
Background: 1961 April 17th to April 19th United States backs CIA-trained forces of Cuban exiles to overthrow the Cuban regime (Bay of Pigs )
1962
1. February 7th A U.S. embargo ordered by President Kennedy goes into effect on all imports from Cuba including tobacco, seafood, fruits and vegetables
2. April to October Cuban and Soviet governments secretly began to build 9 missile bases in Cuba for launching medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, Missiles capable of reaching 2,800 miles covering most of the United States
3. August 6th United States begins to suspect Soviets building Missile Bases in Cuba
4. August 7th United States Protests to Soviet Union who refute the allegations
5. October 14th United States Air Force U-2 plane on a photo reconnaissance mission captured photographic proof of Soviet missile bases under construction in Cuba
6. October 16th President Kennedy is informed proof of Cuban Missile Installations
7. October 17th U-2 flight discovers intermediate range (IRBMs) SS-5 nuclear missiles installed in Southern Cuba.
8. October 18th at a Personal meeting between Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrei Gromyko and President John F. Kennedy, Gromyko assures Kennedy that installations are purely defensive.
9. October 20th President Kennedy cancels remainder of his campaign trip because of an "upper respiratory infection."
10. October 21st U-2 flight discovers further missile bases in Northern Cuba.
11. October 21st U-2 flight reveals Soviet bombers and Migs numbers increasing.
12. October 22nd President Kennedy addresses the nation in a televised speech, announcing the presence of offensive missile sites in Cuba.
13. October 22nd US Forces Go to DEFCON 3
14. October 23rd U.S. ships take up position 500 miles offshore to blockade Cuba.
15. October 24th Most Soviet Shipping slows down or turns round except 1 ship
16. October 24th US Forces Go to DEFCON 2
17. October 25th Discussions focus over withdraw of U.S. missiles from Turkey in exchange for the withdrawal of Soviet missiles in Cuba
18. October 26th Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev proposes removing soviet missiles if President Kennedy publicly announces U.S. would never invade Cuba.
19. October 27th Khrushchev proposes in letter public trade of Soviet missiles in Cuba for U.S. missile in Turkey.
20. October 27th American U-2 is shot down over Cuba while on reconnaissance killing the pilot, Major Rudolf Anderson.
21. October 27th Kennedy writes Khrushchev a letter stating that he will make a statement that the U.S. will not invade Cuba if Khrushchev removes the missiles from Cuba.
22. October 28th Khrushchev announces over Radio Moscow that he has agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba.
23. November 20th Following confirmation missiles had been removed from Cuba the United States blockade of Cuba ends
What happened when DEFCON 2 declared ? 1,436 B-52 bombers dispersed and made ready to take off, fully equipped, on 15 minutes notice. 145 intercontinental ballistic missiles stood on ready alert, while Air Defense Command re deployed 161 nuclear-armed interceptors to 16 dispersal fields within nine hours including one-third maintaining 15-minute alert status. I have included this to show how close full scale nuclear war was between the world's two superpowers, we can only guess that the Soviet Union was at similar alert status and had similar plans in place.
Although no formal announcement was ever made by the United States following the Soviet dismantling of Missiles in Cuba the United States did Withdraw all nuclear missiles from Turkey by April 24th 1963 and because the Soviet Union and the United States came the closest in history to all out war a direct communications hot line was established between Moscow and Washington, D.C..