The Man Who Saved the World
Incredible as it may sound one man saved the world. His name was Vasili Arkhipov.
During the tension of the Cold War Arkhipov was a commander aboard a Russian submarine off the coast of Cuba.
The class submarine was diving deep to hide from the American navy. So deep, they lost radio contact.
When the American ship started launching explosive charges to drive the submarine to the surface, two other commanders aboard the ship wanted to fire a nuclear torpedo. To their minds war had already begun.
Arkhipov disagreed. He did not allow the nuclear torpedo to be fired. In this single event, he undoubtedly stopped World War Three from beginning.
Here today we do more than honor him: we demand a day–a universal day of remembrance and celebration.