Posted on Oct 8, 2015
Did anyone else grow up with missiles in their backyard?
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"Ma, someone put a missle launcher in the back yard!"
During the Cold War Nike Ajax and Nike Hercules Missiles were scatter around the United States. My dad used to talk about one not far from where he grew up. He took me by it once when I was a kid, but it had long been closed. Here in the California Bay area, there are several former Nike sites in the area, and one is reserved in the Golden Gate National Park in Marin just north of the Golden Gate. This site shows what a typical site looked like back in the late 1950's:
http://www.techbastard.com/missile/nike/pr-79.php
During the Cold War Nike Ajax and Nike Hercules Missiles were scatter around the United States. My dad used to talk about one not far from where he grew up. He took me by it once when I was a kid, but it had long been closed. Here in the California Bay area, there are several former Nike sites in the area, and one is reserved in the Golden Gate National Park in Marin just north of the Golden Gate. This site shows what a typical site looked like back in the late 1950's:
http://www.techbastard.com/missile/nike/pr-79.php
Posted in these groups: 
Military History
24U: Nike-Hercules Custodial Mechanic221B: Missile Assembly Technician, Nike
Military History 24U: Nike-Hercules Custodial Mechanic221B: Missile Assembly Technician, Nike
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 9
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I grew up near Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota, and there are Minuteman II silos all over the countryside.
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SrA Matthew Knight
Grew up near them myself. I am from Finley, ND which is in the middle of the southern end of what was the 321st Missile Wing. They were still operational until I was 3 when they finally pulled the Minuteman IIIs from the Forks wing and sent them to Montana. Ended up working as a tour guide at Oscar Zero north of Cooperstown while I was in high school teaching people about their history.
Most people don't think much of little old North Dakota but when both bases were fully active in terms of nuclear capabilities it has been said that we would be the third largest nuclear power if we had seceded from the U.S. We would have for sure been front row to see the fireworks from both sides, ours leaving and theirs coming. Not exactly a comforting thought.
Most people don't think much of little old North Dakota but when both bases were fully active in terms of nuclear capabilities it has been said that we would be the third largest nuclear power if we had seceded from the U.S. We would have for sure been front row to see the fireworks from both sides, ours leaving and theirs coming. Not exactly a comforting thought.
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Not really in my backyard, but I remember driving all over the Midwest in the '50s and '60s and seeing the Minuteman Siilo sites. There are three abandoned sites near where I live now.
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No however at Robbins AFB - SAC placed nuclear alert aircraft on the eastern side of the base. I remember doing a lot of duck and cover drills in school. Looking back now I can see that really wouldn't have mattered when boom goes the dynamite. Always fun when these guys scrambled at 0300.
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