An Unknown Hero

                The Cold War was one of the most hectic eras in human history.  The United States and Soviet Union were on the brink of a war, a war that would not only change history forever, but had the potential to destroy life as we know it.  With both countries capable of launching nuclear weapons at the other, the threat of the destruction of the human race was very real.  The world never came closer to destruction then on October 27, 1962, which Arthur Schlesinger deemed as “not only the most dangerous moment of the Cold War.  It was the most dangerous moment in human history.”

                A navy carrier group was dropping depth charges near a Soviet B-59 submarine which was carrying nuclear weapons.  Many members of the Soviet submarine including, Commander Valentin Savitsky wanted to launch a nuclear attack on the United States after they were not able to reach the general command[1].  With so much confusion and panic the crew members rallied around the commander’s decision, except for Vasili Arkhipov.  Arkhipov refused to launch the nuclear weapon and single-handedly prevented nuclear war and the possible annihilation of the human race. 

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[1] Oliver Stone, and Peter Kuznick, The Untold History of the United States, (New York: Gallery Books, 2012), 309.