S. S. Fehr's Letters to Mom

1962:

• 20 February 1962 - John Glenn orbits the earth three times aboard the Friendship 7 spacecraft.
• February 1962 - The US Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) was formed and gave birth to the "strategic hamlets" program to deny and isolate guerrillas from their base. Thus began the consolidation of 14,000 South Vietnamese villages into 11,000 supposedly secure hamlets.
• 26 March 1962 - The U.S. Supreme Court decides Baker v. Carr, the "one man, one vote" reapportionment case overturning Tennessee's laws as a denial of equal protection of the laws guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment.
• 10 July 1962 - The first Telstar communications satellite is launched beaming TV (America's Vast Wasteland) across the Atlantic to Europe.
• 23 July1962 - US helicopters are ordered to shoot first when encountering hostile forces after two were shot down ferrying South Vietnamese troops.
• August 1962 - Ban the Bomb demonstrations occur in London, Helsinki, Tokyo and Hiroshima.
• 27 August 1962 - Congress passes the 24th Amendment banning poll taxes as a prerequisite for voting. (It is eventually ratified January 25, 1964.)
• 30 September 1962 - JFK calls out troops as James Meredith is enrolled as the first black student to attend the University of Mississippi amid riots and two deaths.
• Fall 1962 - The New York Yankees win the World Series in seven games over the San Francisco Giants.
• October/November 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis.
• December 1962 - Mariner 2 sends photos of Venus.
• 1962 - First K Mart and Wal Mart stores open.
• 1962 - Operation Ranch Hand introduces Agent Orange, a defoliating herbicide, in Vietnam.
• 1962 - Cesar Chavez begins to organize migrant farm workers and goes on to create the United Farm Workers union.

• 1962 - The Academy Award for best picture goes to Lawrence of Arabia.
• 1962 - Michael Harrington's The Other America becomes a stimulus for the coming War on Poverty; Rachel Carson helps launch the environmental movement with her warning about the danger of pesticides in Silent Spring; and Ken Kesey Flew One Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

• 1962 - Popular tunes included Let me In, Mashed Potato, Lonely Tear Drops and Twist and Shout!
• First hits are recorded by Herb Alpert, the Beach Boys and Peter, Paul and Mary.
• Brenda Lee sang Break It To Me Gently while Neil Sedaka confessed Breaking Up Is Hard To Do. The Contours asked Do You Love Me and Tony Bennett crooned I Left My Heart In San Francisco.
• Alley Cat was a catchy tune by Bent Fabric and Booker T & The MGs had a soul hit with Green Onions.
• Soldier Boy by the Shirelles, Elvis' Return To Sender and Dion & the Belmonts The Wanderer were big.
• Ray Charles cried Unchain My Heart and I Can't Stop Loving You; Bobby Vinton scored another hit with Roses Are Red and the Kingston Trio wondered Where Have All The Flowers Gone.
• On the specialty side, Pat Boone introduced Speedy Gonzalez and Bobby Pickett did the Monster Mash.