Hi Woodsy,
Great catalog posting by Terranova47.
I then remembered this. Always wanted the Nike set.
Got to tour a real site in 1964 in the mountains of Alaska as a small child. My Dad worked there (Army) and they opened the site up on Armed Forces Day for family to visit.
There is a restored Nike site outside of San Francisco, in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area that can be toured. A group of retired Missilers and volunteers got together with the Park Service and they have been restoring it. They now have 6-7 Nike missiles that they can actually raise from the underground storage area into an upright firing position.
They have also restored the underground storage area, guard shacks, several launch/radar trailers, and the missile assembly area.
This is a fascinating tour of the early 60s Cold War defenses, and of course, there are the missiles!
Jim Henderson
Nevada, USA
Wow, what a great site. I am astounded that even the families of servicemen were allowed into a Nike site in 1964, at the height of the Cold War, and just two years after the Cuban Missile Crisis. You would expect such missile sites to have the highest possible security, as they were the front line defence against a Soviet bomber attack, and had either nuclear or conventional warheads.
ReplyDeleteFantastic insight and pics of the secret world of the Cold War :)
ReplyDeleteExcellent!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Jim, the Nike Hercules and Ajax were two of my favourite missiles as a kid, obsessed with anything space and rocket related! I love the way the missile has a two part fuselage, just so atomic era!
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