The Cuban Missile Crisis

On October 17th the US started military exercises on one of the Puerto Rican islands. Operation Ortzak is Castro spelled backwards, so they weren't even trying to pretend that the operation was about anything other than knocking over Castro. The buildup at that time included a paratroop force larger than the one that had landed in Normandy. Even the number of American casualties had been calculated,. down to one person as only the Americans can calculate a total of 18,484 people - 4,462 on the first day.