--- title: Photos of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base Before the Cuban Missile Crisis description: Today, "Guantanamo" has come to be synonymous with a prison. But the naval base that houses that prison has a long and storied history. canonical: https://time.com/3969908/guantanamo-1962/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-24T14:00:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:43:39.002Z article:section: History og:title: Scenes From Guantanamo in the Lead-Up to a Crisis og:description: Today, "Guantanamo" has come to be synonymous with a prison. But the naval base that houses that prison has a long and storied history. og:url: https://time.com/3969908/guantanamo-1962/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6fbb67411ca72a70/69885c300b72e348e26e50da/150723-guantanamo-bay-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Guantanamo Bay 1962 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Scenes From Guantanamo in the Lead-Up to a Crisis twitter:description: Today, "Guantanamo" has come to be synonymous with a prison. But the naval base that houses that prison has a long and storied history. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6fbb67411ca72a70/69885c300b72e348e26e50da/150723-guantanamo-bay-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Scenes From Guantanamo in the Lead-Up to a Crisis > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 24, 2015 2:00 PM UTC  Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 24, 2015 2:00 PM UTC For many Americans, the word “Guantanamo” is synonymous with a prison that has, since it opened in 2002, been regularly [called out](http://ccrjustice.org/home/get-involved/tools-resources/publications/report-torture-and-cruel-inhuman-and-degrading) over conditions at the prison and [alleged](http://time.com/3631602/senate-torture-report-cia-guantanamo-black-site/) acts of torture. President Obama promised to close it during his first year in office, and now, as he approaches his last, a [plan](http://time.com/3968292/guantanamo-bay-close-obama/) to make good on that promise is in the works. But Guantanamo isn’t just a detention camp. It refers, of course, to a bay in Cuba, but also to the U.S. naval base that’s been situated off that bay since the [signing of the Cuban-American Treaty in 1903](http://time.com/3672066/guantanamo-bay-history/), following the Spanish-American War. During World War II, the base was relatively quiet, used for anti-submarine warfare training and postal operations. But when the Cold War began to heat up, the servicemen who called Guantanamo home, along with their families, found themselves at the epicenter of an international crisis. On the morning of Oct. 16, 1962, President Kennedy was greeted with a series of aerial photographs, taken by a U.S. Air Force spy plane, which clearly depicted images of Soviet ballistic missile facilities in Cuba. In the tense standoff that ensued, the U.S. enacted a naval blockade of Cuba, promising military action if necessary. For non-military residents of the base at Guantanamo, this meant one thing: It was time to leave. As LIFE wrote: --- > “” --- LIFE photographer Robert W. Kelley captured what life was like for those families leading up to the evacuation—a quiet life in which children played tag when they weren’t doing their homework and women cared for their charges while their husbands went about their duties. It was a life that would soon be abruptly interrupted as the world feared that the Cold War was seconds away from turning irrevocably hot. Thankfully, that outcome was avoided. Another, slower-boiling crisis would come to Guantanamo decades later with the creation, criticism and planned destruction of the prison that has come to define the word itself.  Robert W. Kelley—LIFE Magazine _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Cuban flag flying over Cuban border post set up at edge of American Naval Base of Guantanamo Bay. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Cuban workers leaving US naval base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Children's parade, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Kids in Guantanamo Base school, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Kids in Guantanamo Base school, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Ammunition shells being loaded into clips by sailors at Guantanamo Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  US truck carrying personnel at Guantanamo Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1962. Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  November 2, 1962 issue of LIFE magazine. Spread shows a U.S. destroyer intended to quarantine Cuba from Soviet ships. LIFE Magazine  November 2, 1962 issue of LIFE magazine. Spread shows the shadow of a Cuban guard outside of Guantanamo and the daughter of a jet fighter pilot arriving in Virginia after evacuating from Guantanamo. LIFE Magazine  November 2, 1962 issue of LIFE magazine. Spread shows photographs taken by a U.S. spy plan confirming the presence of Soviet missiles on Cuban soil. LIFE Magazine  November 2, 1962 issue of LIFE magazine. Spread shows more Soviet missiles and a Soviet ship carrying aircraft. LIFE Magazine  November 2, 1962 issue of LIFE magazine. Spread shows an illustration of the placement of Soviet missiles in Cuba. 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