Major Rudolph Anderson and the Cuban Missile Crisis

Professor Courtney Tollison Hartness talked about Major Rudolph Anderson, Jr., the only fatality of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and explained how Major Anderson’s death may have saved millions of lives. Rudolph Anderson was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, and became part of an elite group of pilots trained to fly the U-2, a high altitude aircraft the military used for reconnaissance. Major Anderson was shot down during a flight over Cuba on the 12th day of the conflict, October 27, 1962.

C-SPAN’s Local Content Vehicles (LCVs) made a stop in their “2016 LCV Cities Tour” in Greenville, South Carolina, from January 16-22 to feature the history and literary life of the community. Working with the Charter cable local affiliate, they visited literary and historic sites where local historians, authors, and civic leaders were interviewed.  close