When the United States became aware that the Soviet Union had placed missiles in Cuba, the Cold War was in serious danger of becoming an active, hot war. Since the end of World War II, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. had ramped up their nuclear programs, threatened each other, and engaged in proxy wars; neither side had done anything to create all out war between the two powers. This changed when the U.S. found missiles in Cuba, launching the Cuban Missile Crisis. One of the reasons was because the U.S. had not been doing usual reconnaissance in September and early October. The revelation of these missiles led to a serious discussion of what should happen regarding Cuba. President John F. Kennedy seriously considered invading Cuba, but decided on a US Naval blockade of Cuba. This blockade was then consistently threatened by the Soviets. Meanwhile, Cuba seriously considered a preemptive first strike. Then the Cubans shot down the plane of Major Rudolf Anderson, who would be the only casualty of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Just when it appeared a real war would take place, Nikita Kruschev agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba if the US removed missiles in Turkey, ending the Cuban Missile Crisis.