Mark Scott Smith's Blog: Enemy in the Mirror, page 27
March 27, 2023
JFK meets Khrushchev in Vienna
In June 1961 President John F. Kennedy met Soviet Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union to discuss numerous issues in the relationship between their countries. Discussions included the Berlin crtisis and the neutralization of Laos,
Although the summit was initially seen as a diplomatic triumph by the USA, the two leaders became increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress of the negotiations.
Ultimately, Khrushchev feeling he had outmatched Kennedy, came away believing he had triumphed in the summit over a weak and inexperienced leader.
Souce: Wikipedia
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March 23, 2023
US Military Advisors in Vietnam War
In 1955 President Eisenhower sent economic aid and ~700 military personnel to the government of South Vietnam. This effort was foundering in 1960 when John F. Kennedy was elected president.
In May 1961 Kennedy authorized sending an additional 500 Special Forces troops and military advisors to assist the pro Western government of South Vietnam.
By the end of 1962, there were approximately 11,000 military advisors in South Vietnam—that year, 53 military personnel were killed. By the end of 1963, the numbers of military advisors to the South Vietnamese Army had risen to 16,000.
Source: JFK Library
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March 20, 2023
First American in Space
In May 1961 US Navy aviator Alan B. Shepard, one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts, made the first crewed Project Mercury flight in a spacecraft named Freedom 7.
The Freedom 7 craft entered space, but was not capable of achieving orbit.
Source: Wikipedia
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March 16, 2023
Freedom Riders
Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of US Supreme court rulings that segregated public buses were unconstitutional.
Source: Wikipedia
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March 13, 2023
To Kill a Mockingbird
In May 1961 a Pulitzer prize was awarded to Harper Lee, author of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
In 1962 the motion picture To Kill a Mockingbird directed by Robert Mulligan starred Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as Scout. Positively receeived by both the critics and the public, the film was a box-office success, earning more than six times its budget.
The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Peck, and was nominated for eight, including Best Picture.
In 1995, To Kill a Mockingbird was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
Source: Wikipedia
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March 9, 2023
Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba
In April 1961 ~1500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba (Invasión de Playa Girón) in an attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro.
Without any of the promised air support from the United States, the operation failed completely. Cuban forces killed 200 rebels and captured 1,197 in less than 72 hours.
A single copy of a CIA report written by inspector general Lyman Kirkpatrick was made public in 1998.
Source: Wikipedia
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March 6, 2023
Yuri Gagarin: First man in space
In April 1961 the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first human to journey into outer space.
Gagarin completed one orbit of Earth in the Vostok 1 capsule,
Source: Wikipedia
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March 2, 2023
UN Condemns South African Apartheid
In April 1961 the UN General Assembly condemned South Africa’s apartheid policy.
Leading the resistance to South Africa’s policy of apartheid in the 20th century, Nelson Mandela was incarcerated by the South African government from1964–82.
In 1993 he won the Nobel Prize for Peace along with South Africa’s president F.W. de Klerk, for having led the transition from apartheid to a multiracial democracy.
Source: Wikipedia
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February 27, 2023
Civil War in Laos
In association with civil wars in Cambodia and Vietnam, the Laotian Civil War was waged between the Communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government from May 1959 to December 1975.
Both sides received heavy support in a proxy war between the global Cold War superpowers.
Source: Wikipedia
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February 23, 2023
JFK Announces Peace Corps Formation
President Kennedy proposed the Peace Corps as a means to improve America’s global image and leadership in the Cold War. Established within three months of Kennedy’s 1960 election, the Peace Corps garnered both bipartisan and popular support, particularly among recent university graduates.
Source: Wikipedia
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Enemy in the Mirror
I began by posting events around the turn This website www.enemyinmirror.com explores the consciousness, diplomacy, emotion, prejudice and psychology of 20th Century America and her enemies in wartime.
I began by posting events around the turn of the 20th century as I was researching my first novel about the Pacific War. I continued through WWII for my second novel about the Battle of the Atlantic. Now I am beginning to look at the Cold War as I gather information for my next novel about the Korean War. ...more
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