JFK, the Cuba Missile Crisis and a Florida bunker at Peanut Island

Peanut Island at left, background; Palm Beach
across lagoon. Boat rental c. 1938 in Riviera Beach
Florida State Archives

Peanut Island

6500 Peanut Island Road

Riviera Beach, FL

561-845-4445

http://www.pbcgov.com/parks/peanutisland/

Sail Fish Marina (Palm Beach Shores) tours and shuttle service

https://www.sailfishmarina.com/water-taxi/

By Jane Feehan

Today a county park, Peanut Island literally rose from a 1918 Port of Palm Beach dredging project. The mission was to create Lake Worth Inlet, a shipping channel.  Discarded materials from Lake Worth formed a 10-acre “island” or spoil site.  Ownership and use of the island has been the subject of controversy over the years. The name was attached when Florida gave permission to use the site as a terminal for shipping peanut oil. The plan was abandoned in the 1940s but the name remained.

Of humble beginnings, Peanut Island boasts some lofty history.

The US Coast Guard opened a station on the island in 1936. President John F. Kennedy anchored his yacht,  Honey Fitz, at the station when he visited nearby Palm Beach.  During the 1961 Cuban Missile Crisis, US Navy Seabees built a small bunker on Peanut Island to be used as the nation's command center if the crisis forced Kennedy and his family to seek shelter while visiting the "Winter White House."  After the president was assassinated, some officials suggested renaming the island to honor Kennedy. The motion failed.

JFK delivering ultimatum to USSR
Florida State Archives/

Additional dredging expanded the island to 80 acres during the 1990s. Today, boaters dock at Peanut Island to picnic, take tours of the Palm Beach Maritime Museum (the old Coast Guard station) or to hike. Terms of the lease set by the Port of Palm Beach reserve the right to use the island for inlet and port maintenance and to deposit additional dredged materials.

Shuttle service (for a fee) to the island is offered at Sailfish Marina, 561-683-8294. For county park information, call 561-845-4445.  

Sources:

Palm Beach Post, Dec. 9, 1963.

Palm Beach County History Online at: https://pbchistory.org/

http://www.pbcgov.com/parks/peanutisland/

Tags: Palm Beach County history, Palm Beach County parks, Sailfish Marina, history of Florida, JFK, Peanut Island, Cuba Missile crisis

Cuba Missile Crisis - JFK response and Florida

 

JFK (right) delivering ultimatum to USSR  10/22/62
Florida State Archives/Florida Memory

By Jane Feehan

The extent of U.S. military buildup in response to the Cuba Missile Crisis (Oct. 16-28, 1962) wasn’t revealed to the world until President John F. Kennedy paid a personal call to the forward area set up in Florida and still in place a month later.

Kennedy visited Homestead Air Force Base Nov. 26 where a war room had been established to coordinate military operations. There, the Tactical Air Command (TAC) made available to the press an account of its response.

Nike-Hercules supersonic ground-to-air missiles were placed in South Dade farmlands. They could hurl atomic warheads 100 miles to counter Russian IL-28 bombers, called “Beagles.” Beagles had a range of 1,100-1,200 miles but only if deployed on a suicide mission. Otherwise, they couldn’t shoot more than a range of 500 miles.

One thousand fast-flying jet fighters and other planes were deployed to Homestead, Boca Chica Naval Air Station in Key West and other areas in the Southeast. TAC revealed that its planes flew combat air patrols as cover for daily reconnaissance missions over Cuban waters. The F-104s and
F-8Us, which could fly 1,000 mph, were ready to deploy if the missions encountered trouble.

Hundreds of Navy planes aboard eight carriers assisted in the blockade or “quarantine” of Castro’s island stronghold. Kennedy flew into Key West and drove past the ships to pay his respects after his stop at the Homestead base.

Seven thousand troops were deployed and still arriving in Florida during early November. They were quartered in ball parks, race tracks, and motels from Fort Lauderdale to Key West. Though the blockade officially ended Nov. 20, 1962, American weapons were not deactivated until September, 1963.

To mark the 50-year anniversary of the crisis, a neutralized 41-foot Nike Hercules missile was placed at the Nike Missile Base in Everglades National Park in 2012. The missile was delivered on the back of a flatbed truck that traveled down I-95 to George T. Baker Aviation School in Miami. There, students refurbished the Cuba Missile Crisis relic for display.

The Nike Hercules missile site was listed on the United States Department of the Interior Register of Historic Places on July 27, 2004 as a Historic District.

Nike Hercules Missile - photo from
Redstone Arsenal Historical Info.

Copyright © 2013 , 2021 All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Sources:

Miami News, Nov. 11, 1962

Miami News, Nov. 26, 1962

Sun-Sentinel, Aug. 21, 2012

Tags: Cuba Missile Crisis, military buildup in Florida during missile crisis, 50 year anniversary of Cuba Missile Crisis, Nike Hercules missiles in Florida, IL-28 Beagles, film industry researcher

Why Cuba celebrated Fourth of July

By Jane Feehan

Independence Day, traditionally celebrated in the United States since the early days of the republic and officially since 1870, held significance for Cubans for decades.  

Many Cubans joined in our celebration in a gesture of good will to commemorate their independence from Spain with the Spanish-American War of 1898. After the four-month conflict, Spain ceded Cuba to the U.S. along with Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines in accord with the 1898 Treaty of Paris. Cuba declared itself a sovereign nation May 20, 1902.

As early as 1901, U.S. newspapers reported Santiago Cubans were “celebrating the Fourth with a fervor and faith all their own … with an American flavor.” July 4^th was declared an official Cuban holiday July 2, 1918. This “fiesta” day declaration was followed by official celebratory events that continued until shortly after Fidel Castro took power.

On hand for Fourth of July festivities in Key West in 1938 were “military units” from Cuba marching with United States military; both groups were also there to commemorate the long-awaited completion of the Overseas Highway.

   

Cuban military parades, with thousands of onlookers lining the streets, were held on the Fourth of July in Santiago in the country’s southeastern region. The parade route took participants by a memorial to the 260 U.S citizens who died in the explosion of the USS Maine, the catalyst for the Spanish-American War.

The last official celebration of the Fourth of July in Cuba was probably in 1959, hosted by American Ambassador to Cuba, Phillip Bonsal (1903-1995) and his wife, Margaret. “Cubans took time out from the Castro Revolution, which began July 26, 1953 to help celebrate …” reported a Miami newspaper. Small Cuban flags adorned the buffet tables, while large American and Cuban flags on embassy walls greeted both U.S. and Cuban dignitaries. Bonsal was the last U.S. ambassador to that country.

A few still hold Fourth of July celebrations in Cuba in defiance of their government. But the official Cuban day of independence is October 10. This was the day wealthy sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Cespedes and followers declared independence from Spain in 1868.

Sources:

The Missoulian, July 6, 1901

New York Times, July 2, 1918

Tampa Tribune, July 5, 1938

Fort Lauderdale News, July 4, 1949

Miami News, July 5, 1959

https://www.officeholidays.com/holidays/cuba/cuba-independence-day

Tags: Fourth of July in Cuba, Independence Day, Ambassador Phillip Bonsal