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Nike missiles - Chicago’s secret Cold War history is hidden in plain sight
October 14, 2019, 11:49 AM
SigmundNike missiles - Chicago’s secret Cold War history is hidden in plain sight
This 5:32 news report focuses on Nike site C-94L. The historical footage shows lots of different missiles, not just the Nike Ajax that were at this site.
Chicago’s secret Cold War history is hidden in plain sightBefore the Cold War’s race for space, we had our eyes on the skies for a different reason: wondering if the Soviets would send bombers through U.S. airspace. It’s a story that’s becoming more distant with each passing day, but one Chicagoland veteran is sifting through the remnants of that era — missile silos hidden...
https://wgntv.com/2019/10/13/c...dden-in-plain-sight/2012 article about site restoration:
https://www.dailyherald.com/ar...0730/news/707309911/The site was originally a WWII Navy airfield:
http://www.airfields-freeman.c..._NW.htm#libertyvilleOctober 14, 2019, 12:39 PM
RipleyOnly so unrelated, I grew up on the landing path for Glenview NAS. Low flying military aircraft ran straight north down our Shermer road to the airstrip a mile or more down the way. A daily thing for us, a spectacle for visitors.
We played in an undeveloped field south of the airfield, it was pock marked with what I guess were bomb craters, ready made bunkers for our war games.
I remember missile arrays displayed along the lake in downtown Chicago, for show or reassurance maybe?
Set the controls for the heart of the Sun. October 14, 2019, 01:31 PM
CPD SIGMy Father was a crewman on the Nike missiles back in the mid 50's. Dad was stationed in New Jersey back then.
FWIR him telling me, Chicago, New York, Philly, DC, and a lot of the other major cities were surrounded by the systems.
As far as Chicago, there was the one up north, IIRC, there were two out in the western suburbs, one out southwest, and another in Hegwisch on the south east side of the city.
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October 14, 2019, 02:04 PM
pulicordsWe had Nike sites surrounding Los Angeles when I was growing up in the San Fernando Valley in the 1960's. I'd hike up to them on occasion and wonder: "WTF is going on behind that fence?"
Its my understanding that these were tipped with nuclear warheads, so "close enough" was all that was needed to render their target (Russian aircraft) "killed."
"I'm not fluent in the language of violence, but I know enough to get around in places where it's spoken."
October 14, 2019, 03:25 PM
YooperSigsLots of NIKE sites around Detroit. In the Yoop, there was a BOMARC site at Raco AFS, just S/E of Newberry. This was to protect the Soo locks. The site is still there and I have stopped several times and asked the current tenant to let me visit. But no joy.
Raco also had anti aircraft artillery. Another anti aircraft site was around the lighthouse in Big Bay. A soldier stationed there killed a local tavern owner, which was the basis for the book and movie Anatomy of a Murder.
End of Earth: 2 Miles
Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles
October 14, 2019, 03:43 PM
SigmundBy far the best book about Nike (missiles, not running shoes) is "Rings of Supersonic Steel." It has maps of each city's Nike Ajax and Hercules sites, though much of that info can be found on the www. IIRC, there were about 270 launch sites built, most with with the underground magazines ("silos") and elevators to raise them to the surface for firing.
http://www.holeintheheadpress.com/ringsofsteel.htmlThe Raco AF BOMARC site is long gone, it was built on an old airfield:
http://www.airfields-freeman.c...fields_MI_N.htm#racoHere's an intact AF BOMARC site in NJ:
http://www.airfields-freeman.c...lds_NJ_E.htm#mcguireArmy Nike site SF-88L is just across the Golden Gate Bridge and has been totally restored. Several years ago I got to ride down on the elevator, but I understand that is now verboten:
https://www.nps.gov/goga/nike-missile-site.htmThe Army briefly operated a Spartan/Sprint ABM complex outside Grand Forks ND in the mid 70s:
https://www.srmsc.org/October 14, 2019, 04:04 PM
Patrick-SP2022When I lived in Long Beach, NY, I found out about the Nike missiles that were stationed there.
The location is visible on Google maps.
https://www.google.com/maps/@4.../data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
October 14, 2019, 04:51 PM
Sigmundquote:
Originally posted by Patrick-SP2022:
When I lived in Long Beach, NY, I found out about the Nike missiles that were stationed there.
The location is visible on Google maps.
https://www.google.com/maps/@4.../data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
The aerial shows the launcher (L) site. With a mile of each firing battery was the control (C) site with radars and primitive computers. These missiles were under command guidance the entire flight, all the way from lauunch to warhead detonation.
October 14, 2019, 04:55 PM
zoom6zoomKids today would be like, "Nike made missiles?"
They started building an Anti Ballistic Missile site just a few miles from our house in the late 60's. There was a big outcry as people thought it would just make us a bigger target. The project was abandoned, and the big pits they dug sat empty and filling with water for years.
I have my own style of humor. I call it Snarkasm. October 14, 2019, 06:59 PM
VoshterkoffPlenty of them around Seattle as you might expect. One of them was repurposed as the north west FEMA headquarters.
October 14, 2019, 10:53 PM
mikeyspizzaLived in Niles for about 6 years, from about 1959 to 1965. Dad took us to watch the planes many times.
October 15, 2019, 12:56 AM
SigSACMy family was at Travis AFB in the mid-60's. There was a Nike Hercules site near the base. Took a tour as a child at the launch site, then we were taken up to the radar site up in the hills.
http://www.militarymuseum.org/T86.htmlOctober 15, 2019, 07:19 AM
GibbBangor ME had a BOMARC site, that was obsolete by the time it was finished being built. Crazy to think how fast technology grew back then.
I had the chance to tour the few remaining unmolested "coffins" as a kid, before they were all transformed to garages or storage for the small businesses that moved in.
I took my wife though it a few yeas back, she didn't even believe what I was showing her, until she saw some pictures that proved what I was saying.
I shall respect you until you open your mouth, from that point on, you must earn it yourself. October 15, 2019, 09:14 AM
shovelheadquote:
Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Lots of NIKE sites around Detroit. In the Yoop, there was a BOMARC site at Raco AFS, just S/E of Newberry. This was to protect the Soo locks. The site is still there and I have stopped several times and asked the current tenant to let me visit. But no joy.
Raco also had anti aircraft artillery. Another anti aircraft site was around the lighthouse in Big Bay. A soldier stationed there killed a local tavern owner, which was the basis for the book and movie Anatomy of a Murder.
http://nikehercules.tripod.com/sitemenu.html
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————————--Ignorance is a powerful tool if applied at the right time, even, usually, surpassing knowledge(E.J.Potter, A.K.A. The Michigan Madman)
October 15, 2019, 09:49 AM
Mars_AttacksWe had a NIKE base in Albany.
My father worked for AT&T and he kept the data PTP microwave communications systems operational.
I believe it's what gave him cancer.
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Here, poke at it with this stick.
October 15, 2019, 05:17 PM
casquote:
Originally posted by Patrick-SP2022:
When I lived in Long Beach, NY, I found out about the Nike missiles that were stationed there.
NYC was surrounded by 19(?) of them, a half dozen on the island alone.
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October 15, 2019, 08:30 PM
PeteFYep. I live a few miles from an old site NY73. It was in the Watchung Reservation. Now the site is a stable, as in horses.
October 15, 2019, 09:22 PM
CoolRich59I live about 20 minutes from this site; of course, I had no idea it was there.
Very interesting. Thanks for posting this.
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“One of the common failings among honorable people is a failure to appreciate how thoroughly dishonorable some other people can be, and how dangerous it is to trust them.” – Thomas Sowell
October 16, 2019, 04:36 PM
quattro_joequote:
Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
Plenty of them around Seattle as you might expect. One of them was repurposed as the north west FEMA headquarters.
I live less than a mile from that site.
"Sometimes Magic sounds like Tape" -- The Amazing Johnathan
October 16, 2019, 09:07 PM
FocusedI grew up a few miles from Grumman and Fairchild Republic on Long Island. There was a Nike base a block away from my Elementary school. Several other sites were scattered around the area. With our proximity to NYC and most of the military aircraft being built nearby, we knew we were a target of the Soviets.