Richard Evelyn Byrd, Jr. [October 25, 1888-March 11, 1957]

Richard Byrd was a naval officer and a pioneering American aviator,
polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics. In 1926, he flew a triple
prop plane over the north pole, made an early transatlantic flight in 1927,
and mounted the first of five expeditions to Antarctica in 1928. Byrd had
claimed that his expeditions had been the first to reach both the North
and South Poles by air. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the
highest honor for heroism given in the United States.

Admiral Byrd

The Ford Tri-Motor used by Richard Byrd on his flight over the South
Pole. It is now on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn,
Michigan.

The crisis began on Sunday October 14, 1962 when a United States Air Force U-2
aircraft on a photoreconnaissance mission captured photographic evidence of
Soviet missile bases under construction in Cuba (examples below).  

The United States considered attacking Cuba via air and sea, and settled on a
military "quarantine" of Cuba. The confrontation ended on October 28, 1962,
when President Kennedy and U.N. Secretary-General U Thant reached a
public and secret agreement with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. The
quarantine officially ended on November 20, 1962. 

The SS-4 "Sandal" intermediate range missile

  

The Lockheed U-2 intelligence aircraft

On Monday October 22, President Kennedy announced the discovery
of the missile installations to the public in a nationwide televised
address.

The Peanuts comic strip character Snoopy is famous for his alter-egos, one of which 
is the imaginary battles with World War l Flying Ace “The Red Baron”. The fantasy’s
first appeared in the strip on Sunday October 10, 1965 (above).    

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was a
German fighter pilot known as "The Red Baron".

Cartoonist Charles Schultz

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare service branch of
the United Armed Forces. It was Initially part of the United States Army, the
USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18,
1947 under the National Security Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch
of the U.S. military to be formed, as well as the world’s most technologically
sophisticated air force.

The Thunderbirds are the air demonstration squadron of the U.S. Air Force, stationed at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Nevada.