The Nike missiles of Cold-War San Francisco

From the 1950s to the 1970s, San Francisco-along with many other American cities and strategic areas-was protected by batteries of Nike missiles against a possible attack by Soviet bombers. One of those missile sites, SF-88, has been restored by the National Park Service and is now open for tours. This video presents a history of the Nike missiles as a whole, followed by a tour of the SF-88 site.If you enjoyed this video, please consider checking out my blog, in which I share other history- and technology-related content: www.willylogan.com.For more about the Nike Missile Site and Golden Gate National Recreation Area, please visit www.nps.gov/goga/nike-missile... photos and videos from National Archives and Records Administration, National Park Service, Internet Archive, JFK Library, USGS, and Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons.CONUS Nike missile sites and SF-Travis Nike missile sites maps by Bwmoll3 on Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.Music: “Black Mass” and “Future Glider,” by Brian Bolger.

[@vinlandviking]

My dad was stationed there in the early 50s. My mom, brother, and I lived there in base housing; first at Fort Cronkhite and then in Fort Barry housing. I commuted to Sausalito Elementary school through that mile long tunnel shown in the video. I remember my dad (a Master Sergeant and senior missile technician at the time) telling the story of how some men working on one of the missiles started yelling alarmingly and when he checked on them he saw smoke coming from inside the missile. While still examining the bird to find out the source of the smoke he called out for someone to hand him a fire extinguisher, but when he got no reply he turned to find he was suddenly all alone. He managed to get the fire out and probably prevented a major disaster.

[@andyquinones85]

The type of rubber which insulated the cables back then would rot, i.e. become putty like and crack compromising its insulation properties risking short circuiting, which is why daily inspections of the cables housing multiple other cables was crucial. Such things are unheard of in the new systems (Patriot systems) and beyond, but remember the Nike Herc Msl system was early 1950's tech.

[@timberrr1126]

I was stationed on a Nike Hercules site in LOS ANGELES. My job was to prepare the missile for launch and guard the missiles. Since all 4 missiles were permanently set in place in a silo room, there was nothing for me to do to prepare them. So, I guarded them and watched TV. I was regular Army but most everyone else was National Guard. I lived on base. My guess is there were 40 total soldiers on our mountaintop base. The missile attained 3,500 mph in less than 2 seconds. Total Burn time was 1.7 seconds. Therefore it glided part of the way for a total distance of 75 miles. The speed of sound is 700 mph. A rifle bullet is about 1,400 mph, MACH 2. Each warhead was 20 kilo tons. There were about 16 sites in LA. Each site had 4-12 missiles. So perhaps there were 120 nukes protecting LA. Everyone had a secret clearance. The used Nike systems were sold to Turkey, after 1974, and other countries. We only had a Captain, a FIRST SERGEANT, and a sergeant MP dog handler. Maybe a 2nd one as an alternative. Everyone else were E-4. We hardly spoke to one another for chit chat. We had a tiny room for a bar room that held about 5 people. We were at the snow line. The one odd fact was our KP sergeant was SGT NELSON DELGADO. At the time, I did not know who he was. This man trained and scored Lee Harvey Oswald to shoot rifles while in the Marines in 1959. Delgado changed to Army after 1963. According to his first testimony report originally LEE HARVEY OSWALD was a poor shooter, hitting less than 50% of targets. Delgado knew Oswald well enough to relate stories. Subsequently, Delgado earned the wrath of the FBI for this statements and he was shot in the shoulder by an unknown. He testified in the video trial that he thought the FBI was out to kill him. He changed his testimony in the trial and explained that he thought Oswald could shoot “better”. But how could he know this except to see it in the target results? Maybe he is “saving his skin” to inject doubt on his first statement to the Warren Commission. At least 72 people witnesses to the JFK shooting died mysteriously. Lee Harvey Oswald was such a bad shot they were going to release him from the Marines. Why would LEE HARVEY deliberately miss targets? Delgado has no proof LEE HARVEY was a better shot. I was astonished when I ran into him again on You Tube. I am also surprised I remembered his face and name from that year 1969. He looked like BIG DADDY ROTH or WOLFMAN JACK; somehow he was memorable. But that is him, and he said he was a cook in the video. Small world.. Here he is. kzbin.info/www/bejne/noXFaY1qgrKkftU After 1963, Delgado says FBI pressured him to change his opinion that LEE HARVEY OSWALD was a “poor shot”. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pISci5xmd5tjotk He also says he worked at a radar/missile/aircraft site in the Eastern States, New Jersey. Bingo.

[@kenmohler4081]

Sounds like the Army. I also was Regular Army. I went to a 26 week school to learn how to maintain inside plant telephone switching equipment. When I got to work at the telephone exchange, I discovered that the maintenance was done by civilians and my job was to rake the grass. Then they sent me to Germany, where the switching equipment was German as were the maintenance workers. My unit had one officer, about 25 enlisted and 120 German civilians.

[@yrunaked4]

@@kenmohler4081 also sounds like the Army 🤣🤣

[@yrunaked4]

I was working with the HAWK system in Germany in the mid to late 80's and we would do live fires in Greece, lots of countries used their range over the Mediterranean for live fire exercises. I got to see the NIKE HERC fire there, I don't recall which country was still deploying them, but I will never forget to this day, the sight and sound of that thing launching. The boom was earthshaking at ignition and was not what I expected to see when this thing went up, it wasn't a slow acceleration like something NASA would launch, this thing looked like a bundle of telephone poles tied together and acceleration was instantaneous. it had to be supersonic by the time it cleared the launcher. It was already out of sight in a matter of seconds and all you could see was the smoke trail. If any enemy plane would have survived, they would easily be able to see where the shot came from. Amazing experience.

[@ypdave01]

I served on the Fire Control Crews at 3 Nike-Hercules batteries 1971-1978 as a Computer Operator and eventually a Crew Chief. I think you’ve got your numbers wrong. Hercules attained a maximum speed of about Mach 3.5 sometime in the middle of its powered flight (3-1/2 seconds of vertical boost, rotation toward the azimuth of the Predicted Intercept Point, ignition of the second stage sustainer motor that burned for about 30 seconds), then it coasted for up to a total of 200 seconds until it was command detonated above and in front of the target. The outrageous tales of multi-Mach speeds just a few yards off the ground are not true. It’s in the low hundreds.

[@timberrr1126]

@@ypdave01 Sounds like you know. I just guarded the missile.

[@roberttuss5349]

I was 11 0r 12 years old when my class went on a field trip to the local Nike missile site in Needham, Ma. a suburb of Boston. I can remember the blue and white chevrons painted on the giant steel doors and the doors dropping open, revealing the missile that would already be moving up into the launch position. I can remember how proud the Air Force soldier was to show us the missile. Needless to say, I was impressed enough to remember it to this day, around 60 years ago.

[@JerseyShoreJim]

I was 8 years old when those Ajax missiles exploded at the battery off of Chapel Hill Road in Middletown NJ. Our classroom in East Keansburg was probably 10 miles as a crow flies from the explosion. The lights hanging from the ceiling were swaying, but our teacher told us not to worry, it is just old ammunition being blown up at Earle, the naval ammunition depot that is also near by. When I arrived home, my parents and neighbors were standing in the street looking at the dark clouds of smoke in the distance.

[@logawi]

Oh man! 😲

[@btmontres1423]

Remember my father serving as a battery commander on Oahu. As a kid we saw many demonstrations mostly at night targeting high altitude targets off the North Shore. For a kid in those days it left an indelible impression watching the night sky turn to daylight on launch. The noise was so loud, it like god reaching into the night sky. On one of the demos there was a malfunction and a Nike Hercules went off course crashing into a ridge along the Waianae Mountains. That was spectacular and unfortunately a farmer lost one of his cows. There were two kinds of warheads, silver and gold. Damn, What a great memory watching this fantastic video. Thanks and all my best.

[@logawi]

Thanks for sharing your memories. I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[@bigmike9665]

As a kid, I lived across the gully of sf 51 or 51sf Nike base in Pacifica. We could watch the missiles being raised from our living room window once or twice a month. Our understanding was that there were small nukes on the Hercules missiles. We use to hike over to the base and go up to the fence until we were chased off. We weren't the only ones who did that. I bet the MP at that base hated us local kids, hahaha. Tjere were also ww2 bunkers, just west and below the base we walked to. I was in my early teens when it was closed, 1973-75? Since I grew up with the base always there. It wasn't a big deal.

[@r0cketplumber]

My dad was in charge of NY-56 at Ft Hancock NJ in 1963-65, and I was a free-range child wandering as I wished everywhere other than the missile site itself. It was pretty much the ultimate in gated communities...

[@KRGruner]

Really great video. I rode my bicycle right by that site a few days after participating in Escape from Alcatraz triathlon last August. Fascinating stuff, especially for a retired Air Force pilot, and former San Francisco resident (went to University at Berkeley) like me. Very, very well done.

[@logawi]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! Sounds like you found a fun (if exhausting!) way to enjoy the San Francisco area. :)

[@Joe-kb1sm]

I remember these Nike Sites on the heights outside of Cleveland, Ohio. I currently know of a long abandoned bomb shelter where a factory once was. I'm old now so I don't climb down into it any more. I covered up the entrance long ago, it's a secret spot. When I was a kid, we played the "Duck & Cover" game at our school desk. Nikita Khrushchev said in a speech that the fall of America would come from within. It's happening now..... Our parish priest said that a vote for Jack & Jackie was a vote for the church, My dad walked out and never returned. The B52 bomber was partly designed on a cocktail napkin. The B57 was the prettyest of the bombers, B36 the uglyest. As my long life draws to a close, I am so grateful to have been an American, and lived through these interesting times.

[@dspencer1969]

Truth

[@jeffreystroman2811]

Hey Joe, I lived across from an abandoned Nike site, one of 24 that ringed Philadelphia I was told due to the refineries as they were a target. Took me ten years to finally go across the road and check it out, saw the decontamination room and assumed it was for fallout, later told that hydrozene was some nasty stuff and if anything went wrong those gloves mounted between rooms were to wash it off, hopefully. One time a married friend couldn't come hang out due to an anniversary. I went across the street, pryed off a hand painted exit sign above a door to the underground missle storage, probably painted by some army kid, and stopped by my buddies and gave it to him. He said it was perfect

[@martykarr7058]

I used to work at what was one of the Cleveland sites, the one at Bratenal, along the lakefront. The Navy had built a computer center on the property, but unlike the base in the video, they had everything there, the barracks, admin, ECT, even a little chapel. The barracks/mess hall we used for meetings and the rooms were turned into office space. Occasionally the maintenance people would open and inspect the silos, since they were part of the parking lot to ensure it wouldn't collapse.

[@samuelmorado70]

That was awesome. I went there in the 80s and I wish that had been around then. Thanks for the tour. San Francisco was Beautiful then

[@grayflaneur4854]

My dad worked at an Ajax-Nike launch site outside of Detroit in the 1950s. He reached the rank of sergeant before his draftee enlistment period ended. In the mid 1990s, I did environmental testing and sampling work at several Detroit metropolitan missile battery sites as part of environmental cleanup work conducted by the Army Corp of Engineers. Thank you for the video. Very interesting.

[@keenefx321]

What did you find out in the environmental reports?

[@grayflaneur4854]

@@keenefx321 - If I recall correctly, nothing much. It's been so long it's hard to say..

[@jesspeters1611]

I was inthe Air Defense Command Post in 1967. The SAC would run exercises to penetrate our defenses. They failed to slip a single bomber through. The Hercules was an amazing weapon, retired long before it was obsolete.

[@davidtuley5898]

We had these sites up on the hills above San Leandro, Ca.in the 60’s. It had a giant half golf ball radar dome on the ridge. Us kids would try to get up there but we would see the solders and run away.

[@frankrizzo5594]

My dad probably built it :)

[@mikes7639]

Yes i lived in Castro Valley and isaw the missles sitting on the launchers . I dont know if they had nuke warheads. This was 1960”s

[@timandshannon03]

My grandfather helped design the Nike Hercules missiles, and my kids got to see this base in their 6th grade trip! Was cool to tell them, you have a history with those missiles.

[@tnesp]

David Hackworth's autobiography "About Face" contains great stories on what it was like to run a Nike battery in Long Beach CA in the late 1950s. He was as gung-ho officer you can imagine, while the rest of the unit were...not exactly that.

[@clausg.4556]

I worked with Nike in 1978 in Denmark in one of the sites around Copenhagen, I actually sat on one of the Nikes, I wish there was selfie phones at that time.

[@billymania11]

A very informative video. Most of us in the public have no conception of the amount of money and effort made to protect the US from nuclear attack. It was a stupendous amount of either. I was stationed at White Sands and watched the Nike-Hercules launch, it was very impressive. I was a barely educated soldier at the time and had no idea what went into the launch system.

[@stevedemarest276]

Nicely put together. Thanks for posting.

[@timengineman2nd714]

My father helped to develop the lubricating oil for the gyroscopes of these missiles. The gyroscopes for any ready missiles, especially when they came out with the Nike-Zeus Anti-(ballistic) Missile Missile, had to be kept spinning at service rated RPM since if the Soviet bombers came in low to avoid radar detection at the normal distance, they probably wouldn't have enough time for the gyros to spin up to the needed speed, and the Soviets also made submarines that launched supersonic cruise missiles or Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (like the Scud, and its successors) that also would limit response time.... But there is another part of this story: After this lubricating oil was declassified, it was slightly altered and became the synthetic motor most, if not all, new cars use!

[@logawi]

That's great that your father was involved in this program. I didn't know about the spinoff effect of the lubricating oil!

[@timengineman2nd714]

@@logawi a LOT of things come from the Military and Space Programs!!!

[@troutsqueezer]

Lived in Pacifica as a kid 1955-1960. Our neighborhood was on top of a ridge facing the ocean. There was another ridge a little to the side of us. On that ridge, everyday at 12:00 noon, the Nikes would rise up and point to the sky. Regular as clockwork. Maybe a third of a mile across the small canyon that separated us. It was good to have protection almost in our front yard. Westview was the neighborhood.

[@logawi]

Oh that's cool! I think the ruins of that site (SF-51) are still there in Golden Gate NRA, but it doesn't look like there is much to see anymore.

[@jesspeters1611]

When I was a kid I got to visit the site on the San Bruno Mt. Later I was in the Army and was at the Command post that controlked that and the other batteries in 1967.

[@alexreifschneider4332]

My dad taught air defense school at White Sands Missile Range. He helped teach foreign countries how to launch their Nike Hercules.

[@ambadale]

Took a group of environmental ministry senior officials from the country of Georgia here last weekend, all of whom served in the military, one of whom would have served in the Soviet army before the dissolution of the USSR. Amusing conversations between them and the 80- and 90-year old staff and volunteers that serve as interpretive guides for the NPS. For the Georgians, it was an eye opening experience to learn that our national parks maintain historic military installations. Much of GGNRA - GOGA - Golden Gate National Recreation Area are former U.S. military bases in the SF Bay area. I was coordinating their visit for World Ranger Day at Point Reyes.

[@ypdave01]

As a former crew chief MOS 16C in Nike-Hercules Fire Control, I compliment you on a good presentation with none of the usual factual errors one finds in these accounts.

[@logawi]

Thank you so much! I'm glad to hear that my research passes inspection. 😁

[@nullc0ntext]

This kind of quality is unexpected and something to be appreciated. Thank you, this was really wonderful to watch.

[@dilbert67]

My Dad worked at the Presidio and visited SF-88 many times. He told me that SF-88 was a spit and polish site that was used very often to host foreign representatives who were considering buying Nike systems for air defense. I spread some of his ashes there many years ago. I hope the statute of limitations has expired.

[@geekpoet7443]

There was a Nike site in Parma Ohio near where I live. They turned it into a public park. Most people in the area have no idea what it was or why it's named Nike park..

[@MrSatyre1]

Thanks for this video!

[@Johnnyred51]

I grew up in Southern Marin County and remember seeing these missile sites, There was a site located on top of Angel Island. Great video. Thanks,

[@harryschaefer8563]

My Cub Scout Pack visited a Nike batterie in Mahwah New Jersey. We saw a demonstration of the missiles being raised into firing position, and were treated to a meal served in the base mess hall. This was before sputnik. We came away feeling confident that our military would protect us from Soviet aggression. In time I realized that living twenty miles from New York City was a guarantee of death, given that hydrogen bombs were much more powerful than mere atomic bombs. One brand of sugar loaded cereal for a time included tiny plastic models of US surface to air missiles, including Nikes. another was called an "Honest John missile". Fun to collect, fun to play with and keep in a pocket.

[@joatmon101b]

Honest Johns were short range nuclear capable missiles for tactical warfare. Some training was done with them at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. On rare occasions you could see 1 fired on the West Range in the 60s.

[@cartersmith8560]

I live in Santa Venetia, an unincorporated part of San rafael, marin county........one of these launch sites is 6 minutes from my house......huge concrete pads still there

[@wlanejr106b]

i thoroughly enjoyed this documentary. It provided lots of great information. Thank you for providing it

[@kennethhigdon1159]

My father was on a Nike missile crew when he met my mother

[@Joe-rx7ht]

It’s amazing now how many San Franciscans and visitors alike, don’t even know the extensive military history of the San Francisco, Bay Area. Thank you for that video. I ride my motorcycle up there all the time. I helped guard missile sites as an MP in the US Army while stationed in Germany, a couple of years ago. I’m now an Army Reservist drilling at Moffett Field, CA.

[@dennisnickoloff1723]

Ft.Cronkhite, Rodeo beach and all of the Marin headlands are my favorite place(s). The missile site is very cool, the missiles used to be outside fairly often. I was a few years old when I started going there with my family 67 years ago 🌁🌊🌅

[@michaelkoukos5396]

I lived near Grumman and Republic Airport on long island ny. We past by a Nike station often but did not know what it was till the mid 70s.

[@hirameberhardt8643]

We had a Nike missile site in Bellmore, NY back in the late 50's -early 60's....my dad was an ordinance officer...captain.

[@mattsrollingworld1081]

Great work !!!.....Your careful planning and script prep were very evident....!!!

[@logawi]

Thank you so much!

[@kbob871]

My dad was a Sargent major stationed on the west Coast starting in the early 50s, he was a telecommunications specialist I knew his security clearance was high and I didn’t find out just how Hinesville after him and my mom took vacation to San Francisco area in the middle 90s mom came back talking about all the different places around San Francisco they visited but she didn’t know why they went to these different places. It is only after seeing your video that my dad’s history and moms recollection have come together and brought this evident. Thanks for this account , I looked at this first because I model Different Nike missiles but he brought back from Huntsville Alabama when I was younger.

[@logawi]

I'm glad that my video helped you piece together some of your family's story!

[@dirtydave9499]

Well done; thanks! My old CSM was impressed I even knew what a Nike Hercules was (he was originally Air Defense MOS before changing over). He said "yup! Unlike the patriot, we didn't have to fly one close... We just needed to get one to pop within miles of the enemy"... That caused from flashbacks to that old Atari game "Missile Command"... Yeah we old LOL

[@ypdave01]

I served in in Fire Control at 3 Nike-Hercules batteries between 1971 and 1978. The duty was good and sometimes fun. When Missile Command became popular in Atari or coin-operated video game form I would tell people that I got paid to do what the game portrayed.

[@VIKING-SON]

What a great video very informative to say the least kudos to Willie for a superlative history lesson. I'm retired Army CWO and my mentor Mr Mike as he was fondly known. Worked in Air Defense Artillery in the late fifties into the seventies. I've been to the old Nike base at Sandy Hook in New Jersey, and did an FTX at the old Nike base at camp Pendleton in Virginia Beach Virginia. It wasn't very far from Ocean Navel Air. I was in an Army reserve aviation unit at Ft. Eustis Virginia. Again great video I'll be looking for future stories by you.

[@logawi]

Glad to hear that you enjoyed this video!

[@kithill1423]

Toured the SF-88 site with my buddy and his dad. Turns out the docent, a former missile man, asked if anybody had been stationed at a Nike base during the cold war. My buddy's dad, a quiet man, was almost too shy to speak up but we drew him out and he recalled being part of a Nike Nat'l Guard unit, I think he said Fremont. He easily recalled the analog computer system and the other system. The docent said they had some of the best training scores at White Sands. The docent also told us the missile alerts drove him crazy with his CO calling him at all hours of the day. So, he would park his car in the shade somewhere between the base and home and catch up on sleep. Word around the campfire is that Greece/Macedonia had these systems during the Bosnia Conflict and the Serbs would not dare try to escape NATO jets by going into Greek air space given there were Nike missile batteries there.

[@moviestudioland]

Wili Amazing work. We had one of these sites at Oakdale PA too.

[@logawi]

Thanks so much!

[@bangdollarsign]

great video!

[@logawi]

Why thank you!

[@lowtdave]

That was a good video. Thanks for sharing.

[@logawi]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@adamfrazer5150]

Really enjoying this coverage, loving your production values - the musical selection is directly on the money 👍👍

[@logawi]

Thank you!

[@adamfrazer5150]

@@logawi Anytime at all 👍 People need to be recognized for their work 👌😎

[@BRANFED]

pretty kool video.. thx

[@logawi]

Glad you liked it!

[@terryc7142]

My dad was stationed at a Nike site in Germany. He had shown us pictures of the buildings and launchers. I was able to visit the site in the 2010's, and the pavement and concrete pads were still there. Very cool to see it in person!

[@levismith8816]

cool video cant wait to see what else you have

[@logawi]

Thanks so much!

[@nigeldeforrest-pearce8084]

Well Done!

[@nickchuck7410]

Hey bro I rarely leave these type of comments on videos but you did a really awesome job on putting this video together. It was informative and entertaining. As a bay area native born jn the 80s I love seeing interesting parts of local history from before my times thanks again

[@logawi]

Thanks for the comment. So glad you enjoyed the video!

[@rogerb5615]

We had Nike batteries around Pittsburgh PA. My Cub Scout group toured one about 1959.

[@blueboats7530]

Good video. In the 1990's I hiked up to the top of Hill 88 on Wolf Ridge several times. Back then a lot of the structures were still there, the main building that had contained the computers and radar workstations was still there with a lot of the utilities fixtures. Essentially one whole wall channeled what must have been an enormous air conditioning system to cool all those 1960's electronics. There are on-line references that explain how and why 4 different radar systems had to work together to track the targets and guide the missiles, crazy stuff for how primitive it seems now.

[@jagdpanther2224]

The Soviet has similar system S200 or SA5 missiles, the missiles required to pump in corrosive fuel before launching. Thanks for sharing!

[@lancescott8379]

Maybe I missed it in the video or further down in the comments, so if this is repeated somewhere forgive me. While the technology may have been surpassed thus causing the dismantling of these bases it was actually the ABM and SALT treaties of the early 1970's preventing their continued operation and development. Treaty provisions allowed two examples to remain in each country verifiable via satellite imagery. I believe the site which is in what is now Golden Gate State Park was not refurbished and publicly accessible until the early 1990's. The volunteers who rebuilt the site as well as becomes caretakers and docents were those who had previously been stationed either at that very site or another "NIKE" missile site. In my handful of visits to the site over my 20 years living in the San Francisco bay area I met many a veterans who had fabulous stories about their time in service on that site or similar sites. Now that we have exited the ABM treaty these sites are being rebuilt as museums! Go to these museums as many times as you can. These veterans are not getting any younger and this history is being lost.

[@theodorehallbkylaw]

My Dad was the XO of a battalion of Nike Hercules missiles located on Okinawa in 1963-64. I was 15 at the time. When Kennedy was assassinated (early Saturday morning local time on Okinawa), we were awakened at our quarters by a phone call. He got up, put on his combat gear and headed to his posting; I remember my mother weeping as he got ready. His battalion CO sent him to an island-wide control center while the BN CO and his S-3 each took charge of 2 batteries. The BN CO arranged a code for my Dad to use to call back & let him know whether we were going to war. Ultimately, of course, we didn't; but my Dad said it was a pretty tense time. He watched while a passenger plane refused to ID itself over Okinawa air space and was almost shot out of the sky by Air Force interceptors.

[@tesmith47]

i REMEMBER SEEING THEM ON ARMISTICE DAY IN WASHINGTON D.C. ALONG WITH BOMARCS

[@KillersFromTheWest]

This video randomly showed up in my feed, and I’m glad it did. I see your channel is still fairly new, the content is great, the only thing I’d recommend is some better audio, but that’s not super important at first. Keep up the good work buddy!

[@logawi]

Thanks so much for the positive comment. I really appreciate it! Please let me know if you have any suggestions for how to improve audio quality as well.

[@terryjohnson2093]

There was a Nike base outside of Cincinnati that we passed every time we went camping at Cowan Lake. When it was decommissioned and 1st sold, the original buyer was pretty smart.. The base had 2 rows of chainlink fencing all around the property that had to be 12 ft high or more. The guy based his bid on what he knew he could get for the recycled fencing, and he won the auction. He got that beautiful piece of property with several usable buildings, offices, barracks, kitchens, and a couple of silos for free because he did a little research beforehand. The property has been used as a daycare center and other things over the years.

[@b_ks]

I remember a nike installation on the Palos Verdes peninsula near Marymount college and Marineland of the Pacific.

[@kellywright540]

Had a couple of Nike nuke bases like two miles from where I grew up in southeastern Wisconsin. Eventually, I worked right across from one of the bases in the late 1970's.

[@conradsobczak6389]

Hello, Kelly. I'm originally from Cudahy. The southern site was in Cudahy, on South Lake Drive. We knew there were missiles and remember being able to tour part of the site once in the 50's or early 60's. After decommissioning, part of the buildings were turned over to the County Park System. There was a second battery on the north side of Milwaukee. A friend from Erie, PA, where we live now, was a sentry/guard on the Milwaukee site about 1970. Will tell him about this video-educational for me. An American Legion or VFW in Oconomowoc has a missile on display.

[@unaeruditi]

Nice vid I built the Nike Ajax rocket and the Nike -X! They were the Estes brand. Too bad my father threw them away when I moved away from home. They were way cool rockets for the Hobby.

[@logawi]

That's so cool! I didn't know Estes made kits of them. Apparently they re-issued the Nike-X kit just a couple of years ago.

[@williamdavies8151]

We had one in Castro Valley,

[@mikes7639]

I saw them we lived on the hill near them

[@General.Longstreet]

Marshall Zhukov approves 👍

[@logawi]

So honored to have the approval of the Marshal of the Soviet Union!

[@ronaldelliott4924]

We had a base in Dillsboro, Indiana.

[@imfrcd]

That blue dot on the VA/NC border is/was a Nike site in Chesapeake, VA. Dad and I hunted near there, once in a while they would be out. As a kid it was cool. Now, it reminds me of "duck&cover", Saturday siren tests, and going poof at any time.

[@joatmon101b]

I know of 4 other former Nike sites in Tidewater. The Fox Hill area of Hampton, at the airport in Newport News, Virginia Beach near Princess Ann and in Rescue in Isle of White county. The Rescue site is now Nike Park.

[@pepper13111]

Nike battery about four miles from where I live. They sat on a hill like sentinels waiting. These there till I was at least 21 all gone.Now area is a park.

[@logawi]

That must have been something to live near them when they were still operational!

[@bebopalloobop]

I’m from eastern Kansas and there is a middle school called Nike Middle School, it was for troubled kids, which is an old Nike missile site. Now I live in Anchorage and there is a site outside of town at Arctic Valley that I have hiked up to and skied down from.

[@joatmon101b]

My father was stationed at Ft. Richardson 65-68. We could see the large radar dome from our quarters. The Nike base was open for tours on Armed Forces Day. Took a bus to the top of the mountain. There were at least 3 other Nike sites near Anchorage. Near the airport, on Fire Island and across Knik Arm. The one by the airport had a missile fall out of its cradle and arm itself during the Good Friday earthquake. The crew got a commendation for disarming the missile and saving Anchorage from an atomic blast.

[@andrewheffel3565]

Thank you Willie Logan, great job. I remember seeing former Nike missle bases in the Santa Monica mountains near LA. I am impressed by the determination of the US government to protect us and our allies against the USSR. During the cold war the US operated over 800 military bases around the world to dissuade attacks on us and our allies. In so doing, we created a secure environment where a truly global economy of free trade could develop, ushering in the era of unprecedented prosperity we enjoy today.

[@krisgreenwood5173]

I was at a Nike site in Alaska in the mid 70's. B Btry, 1/43d ADA.

[@charlesanzalone5846]

My uncle was in charge of the Nike missile systems inspections

[@maddantt7757]

We had these missiles right in our back yard: PH-82 Nike 1B, 2C/30A/12L-A Philadelphia Paoli/ Valley Forge, Pennsylvania 1955-1962 Empty field, nothing remains. 40°05′02″N 075°27′23″W High-end housing development, nothing remains. 40°03′57″N 075°28′47″W

[@isaacschmitt4803]

The nice thing about working with ordinance, you'll never know if you've screwed up.

[@mikes7639]

Oh ya ? If you screwed up you get blown up

[@eskieman3948]

@@mikes7639 Ummmmm..... You don't pick up on subtle nuances, do you? Let's try this again: if you're working with ordinance of this magnitude, and it explodes, you're not likely to realize what happened to you, since you'll be splattered all over the place before your brain can register what happened. Now, how's THAT?

[@bruceontheloose1708]

i had a nike base with missles mile from me. in munster indiana. closed up for years but we could get into silo area and party

[@logawi]

Sounds like an awesome party!

[@danmathers141]

I have seen them in the Detroit area and Chicago when I was little.

[@NJTDover]

Well done, cowboy 🤠 How about another vid but this time Navy missiles e.g. Tartar, Talos, Terrier, etc.

[@logawi]

Ooh, now there's an idea. Thanks for the recommendation!

[@nolanwarner1882]

I was enamnored with those rockets when a kid. They just looked like what a rocket should look like. LOL

[@beameup64]

I was stationed at a Nike-Hercules site in S. Korea in the mid-1960s. Korea was very primitive in those days.

[@timengineman2nd714]

Starting @ 11:40 the explosions were the High Explosive packages and the fuel tanks. There were some rumors about small nuclear warheads on the missiles... Don't know if that's true or not, but by this time the Genie Air to Air (unguided) rocket did have an extremely small 1.5 Kilo-ton warhead and the entire rocket (motor and all) could have easily fitted into the warhead section of an Ajax. Of course, the Red-Fuming Nitric Acid tanks alone would have also mandated an extensive clean up of the area.....

[@richardvernon317]

The Herc did have a Nuclear warhead and in fact 1 out of 3 of them were fitted with them. Last US atmospheric nuclear test "Tightrope" was lofted on a Nike Hercules in 1962 from Johnston Island in the Pacific.

[@williamhannas9342]

The (traditional) Chinese characters seen here and there in the footage 中國陸軍 read "Chinese Army," i.e., Republic of China on Taiwan.

[@GroovyVideo2]

as a kid school trips were to see Nike and Hawk missiles shoot down drones in white Sands

[@logawi]

Best school trips ever!

[@robertherrmann4823]

1963 I believe. Went to White Sands to watch the misses and my 12 year old eyes could hardly keep track when those Nikes launched. Those suckers were and still are the fastest man made things I ever saw!

[@92kosta]

From missiles to sneakers - Nike sure has come a long way.

[@captmack007]

I like Nike

[@joewoodchuck3824]

I visited an active Nike site with a school group. They gave us ice cream in the mess hall too.

[@AppliedCryogenics]

At 4:29 are were sure this is a NIKE-Hercules second stage? It appears to have Chinese characters on the side. PS: Wow, I just learned that some were made available to the Chinese Army in Taiwan sometime around 1960!! That's amazing.

[@logawi]

Yep, that's footage from a Nike missile site in Taiwan (a.k.a. Republic of China). The footage is from the National Archives.

[@Idahoguy10157]

Up until the 1970’s in addition to the army Nike missiles the Air Force that a distributed fleet of interceptor aircraft. Primarily squadrons of F-102 & F-106

[@kenp7814]

4:35 What are those markings?

[@sjTHEfirst]

Are you related to Wil Wheaton?

[@mackjsm7105]

Great vid.. you know they COULD paint and maintain these trucks and missiles.. but you know CA.. failing social programs that fail are more important.

[@randywarren7101]

Those missiles were emplaced in the area in Milwaukee,Wisconsin that is now used, since the mid 1960's on our Summerfest grounds where we different music genres played. Also a bunch of our ethnic festivals are held each year.

[@PacificAirwave144]

A couple years as a kid on Kwajalein in the late 60's and they were testing Nike-X and Spartan. Looking back now at the time since and all the programs and money spent :-/ They never knew how they were going to base them, and what new radars would be used, or sites developed but it was always about 5 years between programs. I guess it was a lot of jobs too but it seems a little sick in my age now to see all that money spent on kill-you-more. And it continues :-/

[@tommyboy1653]

Yes indeed, and no high speed train.USA but hundreds of old jets in Arizona desert .

[@myemail5457]

Taking the taxes we needed to make live ,then threatened death with it. Amazingly wasteful..

[@TooTallDean]

It could be argued that it was money well spent if it deterred the USSR from attacking. Actually, I see it as like fire insurance. You spend the money, hoping to NOT cash in.

[@KpxUrz5745]

Cool. I was on Kwaj in very early 60's. I recall the Nike Zeus shook the whole island every two weeks, around 9:30pm. Only we had to anticipate, never knowing just when. As a Boy Scout we were treated to a field trip to the "business" end of the island, and actually got to peer down the silos to see the resting missile. Dad commuted by plane to Roi Namur daily, and once we tagged along and saw some interesting sites like old Japanese concrete bunkers being overgrown by jungle, heavily rusting machine guns, etc. Interesting times.

[@ablewindsor1459]

@@myemail5457 A Note...$24 trillion was spent on the Cold War. Now we have Spent $30 trillion on LBJ'$ Great Society Programs. We survived the Cold War..Price Paid. Today we still have the same Percentage of the Population defined as "The Poor". Will We Survive the Progressives' Great Reset of Olde Joe ???

[@davefellhoelter1343]

Most American's have No Idea? I Know Multiple sights "Within" sight! NOW! I grew up in Downey GROWND ZERO, next to Rockwell, close to Boeing, Douglas, Northrop, All of them!

[@kenp7814]

The 1st NIKE air?

[@jlawsl]

I think the timeframe is amazing. Guided missiles being designed in the waning days of WW2 or right after. My parents were both in HAWK. American air defense has always been limited but good. They were always and are still exceptional operators, but more anti air and anti missile focus has always been put in the hands of the USN in modern times. We have mostly land based, short and medium range missiles, but rely on aircraft and ships for long range air control. I guess the idea works, since Russia has suffered immeasurable damage from not being able to control a contested airspace in an offensive. Their airspace controlling weapons have always been defensive, so it becomes bulky and cumbersome to move these large complexes along with advancing forces. Also, it does not give them air dominance, just defense. So Russia can't claim control of the skies of Ukraine and hit targets as they wish like the US would in the same situation. That is the key defect in their military strategy that the US and the west gained from experience in WW2. Once air dominance was secured, the allied forces in Europe advanced more in a matter of a year more then the Soviets did in 3 while having a numerical disadvantage. Good, mobile air defense is key but how it is done has taken totally different approaches. One has almost never worked against its intended adversary and only worked as needed against its own offensive(Ukrainian ADA vs Russia), and one has almost always overpowered the enemy and succeeded(USA vs last 50+ years). Air dominance does not win a conflict as seen in Yugoslavia and Vietnam, but it is far more impactful then if, for example, the US only had an air defense bubble around S Vietnam and could not project its power over the border. By Ukraine War standards, the dominance in the air of the US in Vietnam made the 10 years there seem like a walk in the park, casualty wise, compared to only 6 months on the ground in Ukraine.

[@adamfrazer5150]

If anyone wants to be half-scared to death but 100% entertained/informed, I highly recommend a book called Command & Control by Eric Schlosser 👍 (or you can not open a book and watched the excellent but obviously heavily abridged PBS doc)

[@seanharrison4817]

I assume some of this footage is of the Japanese or Taiwanese variants, or rather doubt the missiles in San Francisco had such writing on them.

[@stevewilder5336]

You don't know what you are talking about. One live fire from Fire Island Alaska did in fact happen. It was in 1968 and the target was totally taken out. Hit was within 16 feet of object. Russian air defense called ahead and said they had fired on it. It was not them so lets not start WWIII.

[@logawi]

I can't find any evidence of this. What is your source of information? I can confirm that Nike missile crews based in Alaska did their live-firings in-state, because there was enough space there and White Sands Missile Range was too far away. Hawaii was the only other state where missiles were live-fired locally; Nike missile crews in the contiguous US all went to White Sands.

[@bjbeardse]

Ummmmm What is with the Chinese characters on some of the equipment????

[@rascal0175]

I grew up with a Nike-Ajax site 2 or 3 short city blocks from my home in Ferndale, Michigan. That would have been circa 1956 or 57. Prior to that there were Skysweeper anti-aircraft guns which I believe 90mm. Even as a kids we knew of the Cold War and nuclear “duck and cover.” Things are no better now. I’ve had a lifetime of being under the nuclear shadow.

[@jonnyblayze5149]

Why would they not be able to shoot down all Soviet bombers?

[@larryballard595]

🌟 𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔪𝔬𝔰𝔪

[@scottsuttan2123]

Haha fueled by ss v 1 /2 fuel Americans can't make shit German or Canadian British french Sweden if really American it's underpowered or super expensive