Above & Beyond: JFK and the U-2 Pilots During the Cuban Missile Crisis

The little-known story of U-2 pilots who flew from Orlando to Cuba to secure the photographic proof that the Soviets were installing nuclear missiles on Cuba, sparking an international crisis that brought U.S. and the Soviet Union to the brink of war. One pilot was fatally shot down by the Soviets, in an incident that was covered up and later revealed by U-2 pilot Jerry McIlmoyle of Venice, Florida. Michael J. Tougias is a New York Times bestselling author and co-author of 29 books. Among his bestsellers are The Finest Hours (Disney Motion Pictures’ version opened in 45 countries in January 2016), Fatal Forecast, Overboard, King Philip’s War, and There’s A Porcupine In My Outhouse: The Vermont Misadventures of a Mountain Man Wannabe. This event is funded by Florida Humanities’ Florida Talks program in partnership with NSU’s Lifelong Learning Institute.