<p>The action came from the Russians. At 10:15 a.m. on 27 October, Major Anderson was shot down and killed. His U-2 had been hit by one of the SAMs. That was bad enough, but the situation rapidly got worse. Another U-2, on what was described as a high-altitude sampling flight in the Arctic, became lost and flew into Russian airspace. Red-starred fighters were scrambled to intercept, and the USAF sent fighters from Eielson AFB in Alaska to find the errant U-2 and escort it back home. Instructions were broadcast to the U-2 in the clear, an unprecedented event, giving the pilot specific headings to steer. Fortunately, the U-2 turned back; Kennedy included an apology for the incident in his next message to Khrushchev.
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<p>Kennedy's letter was delivered personally to the Soviet Embassy by the President's brother, Robert, who took advantage of the opportunity to remind Ambassador Dobrynin that the US was ready to begin military action early the next week.
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<p>An invasion force of Army and Marine Corps units had been assembled and moved to Florida and the Canal Zone. Thousands of tons of supplies and equipment had been airlifted by Tactical Air Command's combat airlift squadrons to the bases. They were manned by Air Force Reserve officers and crews called up by McNamara to operate their 24 troop carrier squadrons.
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<p>On 28 October, Moscow Radio broadcast a statement that the USSR had ordered the dismantling of "... arms which you described as offensive ..." beginning the following day. The next afternoon, two McDonnell RF-101Cs taxied out for takeoff. Lieutenant Colonel Joseph M. O'Grady and wingman Captain Jack C. Bowland, from the 29th TRS, took off at 3:00 p.m. headed for San Cristobal. Two hours and 10 minutes later they landed back at MacDill with pictures showing that the Russians had made good on their promise and were removing the equipment and dismantling the sites.
