60 years ago – Navy wife and children return home to Scranton from Cuba | State

Joanne Rogan and her children, Dawn and Sharon, have returned to their parents’ home on Rebecca Avenue in West Scranton.

Rogan was the wife of Petty Officer Joseph Rogan, and the family had been living in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since June. Joseph Rogan served at the base’s naval hospital, running the dispensary.

Due to the ongoing situation between the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba, family members of base personnel were evacuated from the island on October 22.

Joan and her daughters were among the military dependents transported back to the United States. They arrived in Virginia Beach in the early morning of October 26th.

Joan called her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Holvey, to tell them she was coming home.

They were supposed to fly home, but plans changed and they took a bus from Virginia. Joan and the girls returned to Scranton at 11:00 pm on October 26th.

In a conversation with a reporter, Joan was asked if she would go back: “I think I will go back? Yes. We are a family of four, and where the head of the family is, there we should be. Even as the ship docked, more than one spouse of the approximately 2,220 military dependents stationed at Guantanamo expected that by some miracle we would be able to turn around and go back. Troubles and considerations await us ahead. But orders are orders. Everything is so simple.”

The Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved on October 29 when the Soviets agreed to withdraw their missiles from Cuba if the Americans would end their blockade of the island and withdraw their missiles from Turkey.