 
the members of the joint chiefs of staff were unanimous in calling for 
immediate military action. 
they forcefully presented their view that the blockade would not be 
effective. 
general curtis lemay, air force chief of staff, argued strongly with the 
president that a military attack was essential. 
when the president questioned what the response of the russians might be, 
general lemay assured him there would be no reaction. 
president kennedy was skeptical. 
"they, no more than we, can let these things go by without doing 
something. 
they can"t, after all their statements, permit us to take out their 
missiles, kill a lot of russians, and then do nothing. 
if they don"t take action in cuba, they certainly will in berlin." 
the president went on to say that he recognized the validity of the 
arguments made by the joint chiefs, the danger that more and more missiles 
would be placed in cuba, and the likelihood, if we did nothing, that the 
russians would move on berlin and in other areas of the world, feeling the 
u.s. was completely impotent. 
then it would be too late to do anything in cuba, for by that time all 
their missiles would be operational. 
general david m.[shoup, commandant of the marine corps, summed up 
everyone's feelings: "you are in a pretty bad fix, mr. president." 
the president answered quickly, "you are in it with me." 
everyone laughed, and, with no final decision, the meeting adjourned. 
later, secretary mcnamara, although he told the president he disagreed with 
the joint chiefs and favored a blockade rather than an attack, informed him 
that the necessary planes, men, and ammunition were being deployed and that we 
could be ready to move with the necessary air bombardments on tuesday, october 
23 if that was to be the decision. 
