U.S. Air Force photo.
With a distinguished military career, Curtis LeMay had commanded the 305th Bomb Group during WWII, pioneered many bomber flying formations, overseen the Berlin Airlift, and headed the Strategic Air Command, before becoming Air Force Chief of Staff in 1961. During the Cuban crisis, General LeMay emerged as a strong opponent of the blockade option. He believed there was no choice but immediate direct military action, and warned that the first thing the Soviets would do after the announcement of the blockade would be to hide the missiles. He thought the blockade would ultimately lead to war, and warned the President, “We’re just going to gradually drift into war under conditions that are at great disadvantage to us…This is almost as bad as the appeasement at Munich.”