Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 15

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 15

12/13/08-01/16/09  Tucson  - Titan Missile Site

Titan Missile Site

This was a very different experience for me.  The Titan Missile Site was very interesting to tour and is very much a part of the United States and mankind’s history.  Seeing how this site was set up to help destroy the world – as a deterrent from other counties using the same kind of weaponry, was impressive and spine tingling.  After going through a tour of the top side, a group of us were taken down into the silo.  This is the only site left that held missiles of this sort – all others were destroyed at the end of the ‘cold war’.  Grace and I were able to take the freight elevator down to the control room, several floors below the surface, but even that did not reach the ‘bottom’ of the unarmed missile still in place.  The silo doors are permanently part open, which assures anyone looking via satellite, that the site is unable to fire.  In the control room, I was selected to man one of the two stations that needed to turn keys within 2 seconds of each other for the missile to be fired.  We simulated the protocol for firing a missile, which was very complicated, for the purpose of eliminating accidental firing or sabotage.  Even after 25 years, the idea that these missiles and silos existed, scare the ___ out of me!  I cannot say that they were not necessary, because I don’t have all the inside information, all I can say is that the act of pretend firing nuclear missiles at one of three prearranged targets, that was not known by anyone on base, is nothing but eerie.  Even so, it is a part of our history, mankind survived it, and it should never be ignored.

Glad It Is In The Past Destruction Power

This tour brought back all kinds of thoughts about what it was like to be a child during the 60’s.  Watching the bomb shelters built by families that had a lot more money then mine and being taught in school how to protect myself in case of nuclear attack. Grace was older then me during this time (we’re the same age now) and she says that one of the reasons she wanted to move to Newport, Oregon was that there would be no lack of food in case of an attack.  She also said that she spent time during that era with her father in Nevada, seeing and hearing a lot more direct information/evidence of the nuclear age.  We both agreed that the things the media and government told us back then did not ring of truth and the fear of nuclear disaster was an imminent probability for most of the children and many of the adults.  Even the television shows of the era, like Twilight Zone, depicted the futility of trying to survive global nuclear disaster.  I wonder if the internalizing of this was not the father of the “Age of Aquarius” and the birth of the hippie age.  Sam thinks that the survivalist mentality may be a leftover from that time as well.  Anyway, it is satisfying in a very personal way, to know that no missiles were launched from any of the Titan sites and that we are still here today.