the year is 1962. Beautiful fall weather, complete with cloudless skies above the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, you can’t experience any of its beauty, you’re far beneath the ocean surface in a dark submarine.
What should be a peaceful day is nothing less than an absolute nightmare for you. You became the executive officer a year earlier of the submarine you’re in, the B-59. It was an honor at the time, but now you would do just about anything to rewind time. You’re a part of the Soviet navy and were attempting to get to Cuba, the nation that now is a part of your Soviet Union. Your submarine was attempting to subtly swim through the ocean waters to Cuba without any issues, yet this hope has deteriorated entirely. A number of United States Warships lie above the waters, and they’ve detected you. How do you know? Ahead you notice small explosions in the water which are originating from their ships. It seems they not only have found your submarine but also are trying to attack you. You question why the explosions are so small, yet don’t have the time to think about it. Your worst fears, the product of overthinking, have come true. You are in a terrible situation. The sweat drips from your face to the point you have to loosen your attire. You know the deep tension that exists right now between your homeland and the United States. The number of nukes that both the United States and the Soviets have is terrifying to your soul. The idea of a nuclear war is far too real, knowing that the slightest brush with an American ship would be the last straw. millions of people would die from a conflict. It’s as if your homeland and the United States are both on tightropes, trying to tediously not make a wrong step.
The submarine you’re in isn’t your average vessel, either. It holds a uniquely powerful warhead that would cause thousands of American navy workers to vanish in the blink of an eye. Once you shoot that warhead off, World War three is virtually confirmed. The United States warships ahead have no clue you have such a powerful weapon. It would catch them by complete surprise. They would be dead before they even know what hit them.
There are two other men of leadership on your vessel and you’re second in command. The rule is all three of you must agree on any decisions. The little bombs the United States warships are tossing underwater at you is not hitting your submarine, but around it. Seconds feel like hours as you frantically grasp your thoughts and try to figure out the next move. The heat from the mini explosions is causing your submarine to radically increase in temperature. It’s as if you’re in a metal Barrel with someone hitting it with a sledgehammer. With each mini explosion the whole submarine shakes violently. Heat just continues to rise, and you notice some of the crew getting lightheaded. The noise that is produced from the bombs is so loud it hurts.
The other two men who have authority on the vessel are yelling in fear. All chaos has broken lose on your submarine. The heat constantly going up, seeing men pass out and the violent shaking from the explosions is causing everyone to lose all self-control and rationale. Your respected boss is almost in tears as he screams to you about what should happen next. Sweat drips to the ground from the heat. Your heart is pounding. “Maybe the war has already started up there! We’re gonna blast them now” He screams. The other man in command quickly gives his green light to act. In a moment’s notice, you realize that you’re the only obstacle to sending off the bomb. The entire world as you know it, literally, rests upon what you do next.
You’re feeling the overwhelming effects of anxiety, fear and stress but your mind is clear enough to think rationally. You stop. Take a breath. Stare at the hot metal wall in front of you for a few seconds, to relax yourself. The other two in command are freaking out, losing all sense of clarity as they wait for your response. While several crewmembers are on the ground, heat so high you can barely breath and the submarine shakes to the point to where you can barely stand, you look at them and firmly say “no”. They almost both have anxiety attacks as they wipe the sweat off their foreheads. Shock is in their eyes. This immediately turns into an all-out verbal warfare of its own, with all three of you fighting for direction. You continue to tell them the logic behind doing such a thing, that even if the United States is trying to start a war, it’s not worth the risk. Your calm, firm presence is contagious to the men around you. After a few minutes of focused, bold communication with the two shocked men, they finally seem to be relaxing and grasping your logic. The three of you collectively agree to turn around and go back home. One of the exhausted crewmembers quickly turns the submarine back to the homeland and the submarine cools off, giving everyone a moment to just breathe and relax. The passed-out crew begin waking back up. It is so much more… quiet now. You sit down and your body is cold now from the sweat. You feel like you ran the longest marathon of your life.
As you head through the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean back home, you know that the political leaders waiting for you are going to be very unhappy. Look at you as afraid. As men who can’t stand up for anything. Your leaders will cringe at your lack of action. Even through this discouraging thought, you find an intoxicating level of peace. The full comprehension of what just happens hits you deeply. You had more power in that single moment than any human being to have ever existed. You stopped an entire nuclear war, most likely either causing the destruction of mankind or at best, millions of lives would have been lost. Your name is Vasili Arkhipov.
For those of you who don’t know this name. Never forget it. During the Cuban Missel Crisis in 1962, This man single handily stopped the world from ending. It’s hard to imagine that an entire World War with Nukes, all rested on one man, in the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Mr. Arkhipov is arguably the most important human being to exist the past hundred years. If he would have simply said yes instead of no, we very well might not be here. The interesting thing here is that above, the United States ships that were shooting explosions to the submarine were not trying to attack it. They were simply trying to shoot small explosions off underwater, a tactic used to signal to the submarine to come up. The radio communication from the submarine to the Soviet nation was not working and this was beyond confusing to the crew in the submarine. They had no idea what was going on. This miscommunication was the source of everything.
Cuban Missile Crisis
The context of the Cuban Missile crisis caused Americans across the United States to feel deep bouts of fear, anxiety and stress. The Soviet Union was giving Cuba, Nukes. As you know, Cuba is under one hundred miles from the coast of the United States. To make matters worse, the United States had no clue of this, only to have discovered it after the nukes were already in Cuba. The instance above was after America had already discovered the nukes and had set up warships around Cuba. The entire Cuban missile crisis only lasted about twelve days. But each day was terrifying for the American public. Imagine the reaction of President John F. Kennedy when he was originally told of nukes so close to shore? Imagine the way the American public must have felt when he revealed to the nation that there is a line of nukes pointed at America in Cuba? You turn on your television with the president trying to convince your terrified soul that everything is somehow going to work out? How lucky, or blessed, can we be, in this moment, for good men and women from our past? The reality is this is only one extraordinary historical situation that we are aware of regarding war. I deeply consider just how many other situations actually occurred in history that were never written, or verbally told, that helped us win or avoid War? The millions of soldiers and difficult decisions that mankind will never discover. All the subjective experiences that the countless soldiers, from both sides, had while fighting. It is mind blowing to consider this thought.
Consider your Freedom
Not to change the subject too much, I do have another thing to say. The fact that you’re even reading this right now is worthy of deep thought. Millions of men and women have died for us to have the freedoms we have today in this nation. We live in a society where many people have absolutely no clue of the horrors and nightmares men and women faced to have the freedom we have today. In fact, many people have nothing more than hatred for the “USA”. At the very least, independent of whatever resentment you have about history, just comprehend that right now, you have freedom. This is a fact. Freedom to read this. Freedom to talk on social media. Freedom to start a business. The list goes on… Consider that even right now, in this moment, families are suffering and dying as they attempt to cross the border to this country. Trust me, if there was a way where they could swap places with you, they would have done it already. I’m not a gambling man but I’d toss all my dice on that the same people who hate on this country would be the same ones who reject such an offer. I feel that we all have things we dislike about the countries past, it is most definitely brutal, unfair and irrational, yet we must always have comprehension of the beautiful things we have from those who died and suffered for our current situation. It’s far too convenient to forget these things.
I hope that we can use such courageous moments from the past to give us strength in the present. Never forget Mr. Arkhipov. A man who even under such extreme stress and turmoil stood by his good character, thus preventing a nuclear war. His decision was the ultimate in humility and awareness considering that he was thinking more about mankind instead of even his country.
-Jarom
Note: “metal Barrel with someone hitting it with a sledgehammer” is literally the description used by a Mr.Vadim Pavlovich Orlov, who was aboard the submarine.
The response of the caption above, to Vasili Arkhipov (1st person above) about shooting off the warhead is his literal words
NO ATTACHMENT IS FREEDOM 