"Children lived in Levittown
And hid in the shelters underground
'Til the Soviets turned their ships around
And tore the Cuban missiles down

And in that bright October sun
We knew our childhood days were done
As I watched my friends go off to war
What do they keep on fighting for?"

- Billy Joel, Leningrad

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the United States first learned that Russia was moving nuclear tipped missiles to Cuba by USAF Lockheed U-2 photo reconnaissance plane. The U-2 flew at very high altitudes and made the first discovery of the missiles. However, there was a need for closer to the ground photographs to determine with more detail the nature of this threat.

Low altitude reconnaissance overflights of Cuba began on 23 October 1962, under the code name BLUE MOON. Flights of Vought RF-8A Crusaders from Navy Light Photographic Squadron 62 (VFP-62), operating in several pairs of aircraft with each pair assigned a different target, left Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West twice each day, to streak in over Cuba at low level, then return to NAS Jacksonville, where the film was offloaded and developed, to be rushed north to the Pentagon. Four additional pilots from Marine Composite Jamming Squadron 2 (VMCJ-2) were also attached to VFP-62 to provide additional manpower to fly the squadron's Crusaders.

As Commanding Officer of VFP-62, then-Commander William Boyce Ecker led the first BLUE MOON flight together with his wing man, Lieutenant Bruce Wilhelmy. They flew one of three RF-8 Crusaders pairs that took off from NAS Key West that day. BuNo 146871 (AG910) and 146886 (AG609), as depicted in the picture.

While the delicate negotiations continued, so did the BLUE MOON flights. Recovering at Jacksonville after a mission, each Crusader would receive another ‘dead chicken’ marking below its cockpit to denote the successful completion of the flight. This marking referred to a comical episode involving Cuban Premier Castro who, on an early visit to New York City in 1960, demanded a live chicken be killed and cooked for him on the spot to prevent someone trying to assassinate him by poisoning his food. In addition to the ‘chicken’ markings, every Crusader had the phrase ‘Smile, you’re on Candid Camera’ painted on the lower fuselage surface immediately in front of the Station 1 camera blister.

In all, at least 71 reconnaissance sorties were flown from 23 October until 15 November 1962. All twelve Navy and four Marine pilots attached to the VFP-62 were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross For their actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis. VFP-62 itself received the first peacetime Navy Unit Commendation, which was personally presented to the unit’s CO by President John F Kennedy, though unfortunately, the Marines were not eligible for the unit commendation because they were not technically part of VFP-62.