U.S. Air Force photo. National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
Major Rudolph Anderson was a US Air Force pilot, killed by a Soviet surface-to-air missile on October 27 when his U-2 reconnaissance plane was shot down over Banes, Cuba by Soviet forces under General Georgi Voronkov, who was unable to consult his superior General Pliyev and acted without Khrushchev’s approval. Anderson became the only U.S. casualty due to enemy fire during the Cuban Missile Crisis. This dangerous episode came very close to provoking a retaliatory U.S. strike. Fortunately, President Kennedy paused to reconsider and held back, against McNamara’s advice to retaliate the next day.