When a dropped wrench nearly blew up Arkansas

The History Guy remembers the 1980 Titan II Explosion. In 1980, a dropped wrench created a crisis inside a nuclear missile silo in Damascus, Arkansas. This is an updated episode based on viewer comments.
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[@taylormoore5098]

"Today's match is brought to you by Titan, the novelty nuclear missile; you never know when it'll go off. Surprise your friends, amuse your enemies, start the party with a bang." - Monty Python

[@mikehilbert9349]

It is true, you can make a Monty Python reference to most every situation in life.

[@thejanitor3263]

Start the party with a bang... WARNING: party will have many bangs...

[@thejanitor3263]

@JohnGalt009 yes look directly into the explosion

[@markrichards9646]

Michael Nesmith’s Elephant Parts has a similar parody. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmqYYoiGec2Sebc

[@Vanilla0729]

I was 5 years old in 1980. My dad was in the Air Force in Dayton and never talked about what he did, but I do remember that just before my 5th birthday, he had to leave for a few months. He came home with a top loading VCR though.

[@bigblue6917]

Your luck. That year i bought a Sony Betamax. Talk about disaster.

[@RCAvhstape]

I was playing Missile Command on my Atari 2600 in those days...

[@bigblue6917]

Helium Road Don't tell me you did a "Wargames" with a Titan II missile.

[@RCAvhstape]

"How about a nice game of chess?"

[@bigblue6917]

Well if it stops you blowing things up. :-)

[@jelink22]

In 1964 I was an engineering student at the University of New Hampshire, when I traveled to Tucson to see my family. My dad was a site commander at a Titan II underground silo outside of town. Hard to believe, but he took me to the site where I got inside to see the crew quarters,and the Launch Control Center where two widely-separated keys had to be inserted simultaneously to launch. He also opened a blast door to show HUGE (15ft x 3ft x 12in) springs that were to cushion shock from a nuclear attack. The missile itself, was perched in the silo above "the W-duct", two wide vertical tunnels designed to deflect the engine blast upwards when the missile was launched. Underneath the Titan I stood at the center of the W and looked up at the two gimbaled engine cones about ten feet above me, with piping snaked around them to heat up the oxidizer as it went into the engines. The missile was "live" , armed with a 10 Megaton warhead. Sticking my head out and looking up I could see venting LOX somewhere several stories above. I also heard something metallic drop with a loud clank several stories above. Perhaps a wrench, but it didn't fall from there. I still have my dad's LGM-25C Launch Sequence for the missile. Like many old-time aviators he put all the pages into plastic protectors and then gathered them in three big rings, just as stenographers and navigators used to do. It's a family treasure.

[@joshuacavender1536]

Must be the Titan Missile Museum now. Been there twice. Not as scary now fortunately.

[@1978garfield]

I think the best parts of the movie The Day After are the simulated launch sequence and the stock footage of real launches they used. To see those huge silo doors open and then the fire and then the missile fly out is amazing.

[@markuffman9598]

Larry, that is a hell of a story. I kinda felt like I was a kid checking out that middle. I guess take your kid to work day was much cooler than 99.999% of the rest of the kids. "My dad sees over launch keys of a nuke pointed at Russia. What does your dad do?". Instant win against the neighbor kid. Lol

[@jelink22]

@@markuffman9598 Thanks for your kind comments .To this day, many people doubt my story! I have to make one edit, though: what I saw venting above must have been Liquid Nitrogen, , not LOX, as the former is inert ( and used to cool the propellants) , while the latter an accelerant. Other than for that, it's still clear in my memory, especially staring slack-jawed up at the missile and its engines from underneath, knowing that its payload was a Cargo of MegaDeath When I see SpaceX or other launches I always think of that experience.

[@Gail1Marie]

@@jelink22 While in AF ROTC, I had a chance to tour two missile sites (Minuteman, not Titan). I was stationed at Edwards AFB when a Titan 4 solid-fuel booster was dropped from a crane and blew up. (It occurred at the so-called "Rocket Lab" on a ridge on the northeast side of the base, across the lakebed from main base.) I just happened to be walking toward my car, en route to a meeting, when I saw a huge flash of light. My first thought was, "Gee, that sun sure gets in your eyes." And then I realized, "No, the sun is already up, and it's over THERE." And that's when the shock wave hit. Everyone came boiling out of the buildings to see what was going on. It killed one contractor and injured several. This was on September 7, 1990.

[@hunternannen6176]

Ived lived in arkansas my whole life and I had no idea we had something interesting besides birthing Walmart and Tyson

[@theweirdone641]

Hunter Nannen same

[@kennedywalker1915]

Lol yeah... it’s kind of boring here lol. I mean, Fayetteville’s kind of cool sometimes but like?? Besides that? There’s nothing xD

[@Waluigi2009]

@@kennedywalker1915 even LR is pretty boring when you've got Memphis two hours away and it's three times bigger

[@YouBettaGetYouAhhJeniffer]

Learned something new today...i live in Conway

[@zachshaw2864]

@@kennedywalker1915 yoooo Fayetteville is like an hour from me and its prolly the most interesting place nearby other than like springdale or springfield

[@308dude]

Thank you, History Guy, for this great video. I was 11 years old at the time of the Damascus accident, and lived about 12 miles from 374-7, as well as several other Titan II silos within a 25 mile radius of my home, including two about 5 or 6 miles away. My friends and I would sometimes discuss the fearsome thought of being outside and seeing the missiles go up. World War III, MAD, the end of the human race; we'd have the front row seat. Surrounded by a dozen ICBM sites, we knew we were a primary target in the center of Russia's crosshairs. Somewhere in the back of your mind, the thought was always there. On that morning of September 19, 1980, I was jolted awake by a low frequency rumble that shook the house. I first thought it was thunder, but realized a second later it didn't sound or feel quite right. Something was different. It was the explosion shock wave, that rattled my house from 12 miles away... My grandpa was in the room next to my bedroom, where his CB radio base unit was, and he'd stayed up monitoring the situation. The doors to our rooms were open, and I heard the CB radio lit up with furious chatter, "It blew up, it blew up!" One of my elementary school teachers lived about half a mile from the site, and had been evacuated. Upon returning to her home, she found metal debris from the explosion in her yard. When the Titan II sites were being dismantled in Arkansas, one of the major contractors rented a warehouse from my uncle just down the road. I got to know them, and got to see all the equipment from each site as they were dismantled. I'll never forget the eerie feeling of standing at the launch console and pressing the launch button, even though it was just sitting in a warehouse awaiting its fate to be sold as scrap.

[@terryhickman7929]

I was born & raised in Omaha, the home of the Strategic Command base in Bellevue some ten miles south of my house. When I was ten (1960), my best friend and neighbor and I had a discussion about what would happen if the Rooskies sent nuclear missiles over here. We knew we were within the fatal radius if they hit SAC. We calculated that, if it were on a school day, there would be no way for us to get home before the bombs dropped, and no point in trying. At the end of this talk, we had mutually decided that we wouldn't worry about it, because once the air raid sirens went off for real, we'd only have to wait about 15 minutes until it was all over. We had that knowledge, though. So when the Cuban Missile Crisis developed we were well and proper scared for a couple of days. Aside from that, I never let it worry me.

[@dinoschachten]

That's quite a fascinating and scary first-hand description. Thank you for sharing! :)

[@dsandoval9396]

Crazy. Just, crazy. Your thought of a front row seat at the end of the world (most of it anyway)... I just can't find the words to describe the feeling that would give me as a child and then later as an adult if I was in your shoes. Absolutely surreal to say the very least. And then as you mentioned you had the chance to push "the button" albeit disconnected, that act would make anyone think deeply about the reality of that scenario if it were to really be used as it's intended purpose, yet at the same time not something one would think would really happen. I mean, how many people today are buying or making contingencies for a nuclear war? Yet the amount of nuclear warheads in the world today is more than it would take to completely destroy the entire surface of the world. There are those that DO take active measures against it but not to the extent of people who supposedly believe "it could really happen". What does that say about people? That we've just resided ourselves to the inevitable outcome of nuclear war if it were to happen? It this an example of people bullshitting themselves saying on one hand "it can happen any day" yet deep down inside they themselves don't believe it even though all the pieces are there waiting for the fuse to be lit?... Bottom line that's some crazy, scary, stuff to be dealing with at any age.

[@yellowjackets8395]

Dang I live in Sheridan which is about an hour away from Damascus I didn’t know I lived so close

[@Digitalemke]

Nothing to say except wow...

[@alech8336]

History guy on rocket fuel leak: "this was not good"

[@jamieauld3270]

*clears throat in physics expertise* explosions, in my professional opinion, ...cause damage. *accepts highest accolades of achievement*

[@soonerfrac4611]

My dad was a missile watch commander on one of the other birds in the are for the same Squadron. He was part of the response to the location because he was not on alert at the time. Flash forward to 2012 & after my time in the army I then worked for them as a civilian police officer assigned to be a patrol medic. While discussing the film War Games with one of army hospital’s paramedics (it was on the TV set in their break room) another paramedic walked in and said “That movie is such BS, that was my first job in the AF.” I looked at her and said, “funny it was my dad’s as well.” After a short 2 second pause she replied “You’re dad is Cpt.*REDACTED*!”

[@werquantum]

If anyone has found his calling, it’s the History Guy. Bravo, sir.

[@lime7310]

Ayy Arkansas buddies where you at?

[@balecbird7641]

TheWelch Sisters right here pal. Wish I was in Oklahoma. I really like Oklahoma

[@YouBettaGetYouAhhJeniffer]

Ayyye! Conway n the house!

[@balecbird7641]

Hey I’m near Conway

[@balecbird7641]

Vilonia actually

[@YouBettaGetYouAhhJeniffer]

@@balecbird7641 well howdy friend👋🏾

[@Wiencourager]

I toured the titan museum in Arizona, the tour guide was a retired commander of titan II sites and knew everything about it, and the other People on the tour were NASA engineers. Very interesting!

[@billbogg3857]

Here in UK if you are told that someone has ' put or thrown a spanner (wrench) in the works ' it means that there has been a hold-up or delay in a procedure. It means that you can stop whatever you are doing , put your feet up, and have another cup of tea except for the poor sod involved. In America it seems that there may be a greater sense of urgency attached to the idea such as having a nuclear warhead land next to you. I feel that this should be made clear in any guide books to the US.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

"Throw a wrench in the works" is the common US version of the phrase.

[@flagmichael]

In the US the general rule is to react immediately. It improves the speed of the response but not the intelligence. There is something to be said for having a cup of tea.

[@jcsgodmother]

@Tanner Wedding only it does not mean to sit back and have tea. It means all hell is about to break loose.

[@painmagnet1]

Haha I am an American tradesman and MANY of us are from another country or at least, bilingual. We aren't dummies. 'Dropping The Spanner' is well recognized among my ranks as 'should have called in sick today' lol.

[@lordchickenhawk]

@@painmagnet1 'Ken oath mate, some bugga drops the spanner and there's not much tea and no biscuits... however the higher-ups may spit the dummy

[@alexandermartincausey7333]

I just can't help but hear Marvin Martian saying "Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth shattering kaboom."

[@greg1268]

I literally laughed out loud at the timing of “At this point, We need to pause for a moment to bring up an interesting interlude.”

[@Erin-Thor]

"This was NOT GOOD..." Understatement of the millennium.

[@688guy8]

I remember the "I can neither confirm, nor deny" bit from my '70's era submarine days...Ha!

[@ikonix360]

That often still goes on today.

[@Roger_Cope]

I thought that was the standard govt. response to anything. Like NASA's Never A Straight Answer policy.

[@farmcat3198]

I got to visit that site when I was nine years old. My grandfather was a retired Air Force officer with a second career as an Engineer supporting underground communication systems. He had access to the base and lived nearby. One afternoon we visited for a tour. The blown apart silo was quite frightening. Thick walls of concrete with massive fissures and bent rebar. Little parts scattered all over the ground. Lots of interesting things for a 9 year old to pick up, inspect, and inquire about. It's one of the highlights of my youth.

[@EnderCrypt]

but.. theres still one important question left out.... what happend to the wrench?

[@Mrbfgray]

This is why you DON'T stamp your initials on your tools in some situations folks.

[@jasonwoods5326]

I understand an update to procedures had all tools tethered to prevent free falling tools from causing damage to missiles.

[@naui_diver9290]

It was a craftsman....they returned it for a new one

[@andrewmadar9839]

EnderCrypt it’s gone

[@HowieDaDuk]

The monkey got the wrench........

[@allenatkins2263]

Fortunately, the only disaster in Arkansas is the Razorbacks.

[@ZuluLifesaBeech-]

😜

[@picax8398]

Oooh

[@yellowjackets8395]

Oh yeah what’s your team

[@arguy_4420]

Oof

[@theworldoverheavan560]

@James Orr lol

[@darrenhersey9794]

The Titan II was nearing the end of its actual active time, but was well past the expected lifetime. Originally they only planned for the system to be active into the early 1970s. it was running some serious overtime in the 80s

[@Nonakame]

I toured the Titan Missile Museum in Green Valley, AZ south of Tucson last month. It is a sobering experience to be sure. Very well presented and the docents are very knowledgeable. Seeing the control room and the actual missile was a reminder of the brave men and women that operated these facilities during a volatile period of our history. Highly recommend.

[@j.griffin]

5:12 “This is NOT good...” That is quite the understatement from The Guy with the Bright Blue Bowtie- The facial expressions are priceless!

[@Lew114]

I remember this event very clearly. I was 12 years old and lived in northeast Arkansas. The fact that it’s now considered history makes me feel a bit old.

[@ldawg7117]

If that's not bad enough... 9/11 is considered history now... and is taught in schools.. kids who were born on that day are technically adults and can even now buy alcohol, as of yesterday.

[@carljacobs1260]

When I was going through Initial Qualification Training for Minuteman in 1981, I shared a BOQ with three other officers also going through training. One of those guys was a former enlisted Titan crew member who had been part of the investigation of the accident. He had gone through OCS and was being trained as Titan Missile Crew member. I remember three things he told me: 1. The accident was caused by what we called a field procedure. Every action performed in SAC was controlled by tech orders and checklists. Field procedures were unofficial procedures/deviations/shortcuts from the TO that made life easier and quicker. They were strictly prohibited. The Mnx guy dropped the socket because he wasn't using his TO. 2. His theory of the explosion was that the corrosive fuel started an electrical fire in the silo, which pressurized and eventually ruptured the LOX tank. 3. The Air Force was very concerned that an explosion in the missile silo might also destroy the connected launch control center, so they evacuated it. After the explosion, they re-entered the LCC and discovered a half-full cup of coffee still standing on the edge of a desk. The only evidence of the explosion in the LCC was that some cables connecting the LCC to the silo had been pulled out of place. I imagine the Air Force representative wouldn't tell the Vice President because of where he was at and who he was with. That conversation makes complete sense to me. This was a Broken Arrow. Such information needs to be controlled.

[@0BRAINS0]

Silence is golden.

[@nautifella]

​@@0BRAINS0- Duct tape is silver. Must keep options open. (Ты еще не умер?)

[@PD-we8vf]

The nation and the world would have been better off if slick Willie Clinton had been touring the silo at the time. Although cocaine prices would have been higher.

[@lmulligan6969]

@@PD-we8vf ha ha ha. All the Clinton's are scumbags. His wife is a murderer and a satanist.

[@PostersGamingg]

Was Preston your Minuteman Recruiter?

[@jojowhite9041]

I knew David Livingston from the neighboring town of Heath, Ohio. He was a very good person, short in stature but not in heart. I also knew his younger sister Marcia and this of course devastated the family. I was at a SAC base at the time but my base housed alert aircraft that carried nuclear bombs and no missiles. I just recall the Broken Arrow alert indicating a nuclear accident and learnt later that SRA. Livingston had died in this explosion. He was 22 years old at the time and if he were alive today, he'd be about 61bv. God bless this young airman and his family.

[@kilderok]

I live right down the road from where the 1965 Clay road missile silo crisis occurred. You should cover that one as well, it killed 53 people. 11 miles north of Searcy, very close to Pangburn. THAT one was really nasty too.

[@lulumoon6942]

Wow, RIP fellow citizens. 🙏

[@Ed_Stuckey]

I looked up the Searcy accident on the 'encyclopediaofarkansas' website and found this at the end of the article: "Coincidentally, the missile that was in the launch duct, serial number 62-0006, was the same missile that later exploded in Launch Complex 374-7 in Southside (Van Buren County) just north of Damascus (Van Buren and Faulkner counties) on September 19, 1980." Pretty determined missile...

[@Theywaswrong]

@@Ed_Stuckey Should have been "same type". There was nothing much left of that Searcy explosion.

[@johndivita4842]

Excellent work, sir. The level of detail you provide is astounding. Thank you for all your research and compilation. A+

[@richardsmith7104]

I was stationed at Grand Forks AFB in missile security from 1965 to 1966.

[@NMrick505]

If anyone is outside Tucson, AZ head to the Titan II missile museum and you can see one in person. Even have a pretty neat video before the tour explaining the site launch sequence, etc.

[@brandonscherff9344]

Rick Duncan definitely worth seeing,when I went on the tour it was lead by a retired titan 2 missile site commander, who knew everything about it, and the other people on the tour were retired nasa engineers.

[@JRobertOppenheimerVideos]

Second that.

[@jimcurt99]

The tour was really interesting and our guide was awesome... well worth it.... also check out the Pima Air and Space Museum... Tucson is a GREAT place if you love aviation...

[@amedfinger3676]

Evergreen Space and Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon has one. They also have the Spruce Goose as well. Very cool Museum!

[@tommycolton4971]

I got to turn the key

[@rvasquez8057]

This is a great story and cautionary tale. There was a documentary on the whole event on the history channel that went into greater detail. This is just another terrific story from this channel. Keep up the great work.

[@ericthered760]

Johnny Carson made a joke about it at the time: He referred to the incident as "The Nukes of Hazard," a play on the popular TV show at the time, The Dukes of Hazard, also set in the south.

[@jbrown4692]

I’ll never forget it!! I was a freshman in high school and my dad was the Chief of Police in Heber Springs, just on the other side of the lake from where this happened.

[@Krahnic559]

The Titan Missile Museum close to Tucson, AZ is very cool. I took the top to bottom tour, which take about 5-6 hours, and it was a lot of fun. The tour guide was actually a member of a team that ran a Titan II silo back in his 20s. I highly recommend it.

[@nutandboltguy3720]

I’d like to take that tour. I got the last tour of the day and though the tour guide was thorough, I think he was ready to leave for the day. Still a worthwhile visit. Next time I’ll go to the first tour.

[@biofall38]

And here I am freaking out when I drop an 8mm socket in the enginebay

[@brianhathaway8511]

Thank you for an excellent video on this topic. Several years back, I read Eric Schlosser's book "Command and Control", an excellent read for those interested in digging more deeply into this topic. Years ago, when I was an Aircraft Maintenance Officer in the Strategic Air Command, I had additional duties of Nuclear Safety Officer and Disaster Preparedness Officer, which provided me more insight into the risks and hazards of nuclear weapons than some of my colleagues. The Broken Arrow scenarios we used in our DP exercises included a weapon involved in an aircraft crash and fire, with a resultant non-nuclear detonation and dispersal of Plutonium. These risks are much lower since the development of insensitive HE and the ENDS systems you discussed. At our wing, we were armed with B-43 and B-61 bombs and SRAM's armed with the W-69 Warhead. The W-69 was retired from the active inventory early due to one point safety issues. Another excellent topic worth investigating was an incident that occurred several years ago where a B-52H armed with Air-launched cruise missiles flew from Minot AFB ND to Barksdale AFB LA with 6 ALCMS armed with real nuclear weapons. As I understand it, it was quite a few hours after the mission that anyone was aware the nuclear armed missiles were flown to Barksdale. Much of the story was hushed up because discussion of the incident would have revealed classified information about command and control of nuclear weaponry.

[@normanboyes4983]

Excellent -and the fact that you reflected and represented this story is testimony to your academic rigour and your credibility.

[@rollinwithunclepete824]

In 1962/3 my father was stationed at Vandenberg AFB. We lived out by the base golf course in the 'far end' of a duplex in a group of 3 or 4 duplexes, really they were old ranch houses. The golf course/duplexes were only 2, maybe 3, miles from the test launch pads for various missiles the USAF liked to test. For one test, the USAF sent an airman to the duplexes to tell everyone living there they needed to evacuate (a little unusual - they hadn't told us to evacuate before) because of a test. The airman, told the neighbors but never came to our "end" of the duplex. Well things didn't go well for the test, the missile exploded. I remember being awoken with a BIG Flash of light and then heard a huge boom that rocked the house. As it turned out, everyone that hadn't evacuated were OK, but the next morning the lawn was partially covered with small bits of aluminum foil-like objects - pieces of the former missile.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Wow!

[@fk4515]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Yep, can't trust sky cops, they're not real good a communicating, tend to like to play "I've got a secret" and then jack you up for doing what they didn't tell you not to do.

[@MC-wr8sz]

Dude I seriously LOVE the history guy! Fallen asleep watching entire playlists after like 4 hours in so many times....best short docs on KZbin along with "Dark Docs"

[@frankpitochelli6786]

I think this is one of the better channels on KZbin. Your narration is very enjoyable.

[@ApolloWasReal]

Some minor corrections regarding the Titan II's propellants. The fuel, Aerozine-50, was a 50-50 mixture of unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine (UDMH) and "straight" hydrazine. It's a clear, volatile water-like liquid that smells something like ammonia. The oxidizer is nitrogen tetroxide. Just above room temperature it becomes nitrogen dioxide, a reddish-brown and acidic gas. It's also a major component of pollution (aside from CO2) from fossil fuel combustion; VW's "Dieselgate" involved faking emission test results for nitrogen oxides, mainly this one. Hydrazine burns quite well in air, though it is not hypergolic as with nitrogen tetroxide. So the silo explosion could have started in an explosive mixture of leaking hydrazine and air; an oxidizer leak was not absolutely necessary though of course one would have triggered an immediate explosion. These exact same propellants were also used in the Apollo Lunar Module and in the main engine of the Apollo Service Module. They're still used today, mainly in upper rocket stages and in small spacecraft thrusters; most western countries that used hypergols in their main stages (like the Titan II, and the European Ariane 1-4) have phased them out because of cost, safety and environmental problems. Countries I know to still be using hypergolic main stages are India, China, Russia and North Korea. As far as I know, SpaceX uses no hypergols at all in its rockets, which is highly unusual.

[@LgSutterby]

Hydrazine was experimented with in drag racing back in the sixties as well. The guys brave enough to run the stuff would put a touch in their fuel cell just before they made their pass down the drag strip, and would have to immediately drain it out of the fuel system after they got back to the pit. The hydrazine and race gas mix would create soap-flake-esque solids inside the carburetor bowls, highly volatile, and simply tapping the carb with a wrench would cause an explosion. There's one story of a guy who ran hydrazine on a pass, forgot to drain it out after his run, and went to get a hot dog. About 5 minutes later there was a loud boom; he ran back to the pits to see what had happened, and found that the hydrazine left in the cylinders had heated up and ignited itself, blowing the cylinder heads off of the engine and setting them down about twenty feet away on either side of the car.

[@artcurious807]

I think these kind of snap shots of interesting history are great. We can already look up regular history anywhere but its things like this Titan missile explosion that are important to know about yet get buried in time by pop culture news and sports fairly quickly. Keep up the good work.

[@SomeDudeInBaltimore]

What I learned in US history class: they didnt like some extra taxes so they threw tea into the water and kicked Britain's ass. What I learned in the 20 years since high school: everything else

[@jbarrer2196]

I recommend Eric Schlosser's book "command and control" which describes this incident in detail, as well as other near catastrophes involving nuclear weapons. I worked on Titan II missiles in Wichita KS located around McConnel AFB. The "Launch Enable System" that I worked on was 1950s technology and consisted of dozens of individual small circuit boards containing soldered components of transistors and resistors. They didn't use integrated circuits yet. what fun.

[@davidbuschhorn6539]

I worked for a pest control company and I did the PC work on Fairchild Air Force Base. My first job was ridding the Nuclear Weapons Storage Facility of burrowing rodents. Apparently they set off the motion detectors CONSTANTLY and it wasted a lot of the guards' time going to check all the false alarms. The maintenance section of that facility was full of workers and it was *_SILENT._* A guy I worked with about a decade later's dad used to work there. He said his dad told him something regarding working on the missiles like, "If your tool makes noise, you're scratching it. If you're scratching it, you're damaging it and you don't want to damage nukes." I guess dropping a tool was a seriously scold-worthy offense since you weren't being careful enough.

[@msgtpauldfreed]

I was stationed at Little Rock AFB as my first duty station in 1985. I toured the missile wing's maintenance facility once. Outside the base there is a monument to those who died in the Damascus incident. I believe it was purposefully put outside the base to be more accessible to the public.

[@teddystev5423]

My first duty station was at the Rock too, FMS

[@royf.7214]

@The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered Thanks for your series of videos of history that deserves to be remembered; they are both entertaining and informative. In your series on the Cold War, you may want to include a video about the SL-1 nuclear reactor accident in Idaho on January 3, 1961. This is the first (and so far only) nuclear reactor accident in the US with loss of life. With all the furor over the years about Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima Daiichi disasters, it seems SL-1 has been forgotten. The three young service men who lost their lives that cold day in January certainly deserve to be remembered.

[@ChristopherSaindon]

One Sandia engineer was asked (on a PBS special about this event) "Was there a chance of the warhead detonating?" *"Yes."*

[@KCODacey]

Anyone notice the History Guy's haircut start short - grow long - go back to short - & finally grow long again? I know, this is an updated video. Much appreciated History Guy.

[@stevecollins9759]

I lived about 30 miles from where this happened. I remember it well. I actually got to tour the silo complex at Velvet Ridge while in high school. Very impressive to a 11th grader!

[@TheMathius78]

Thanks, History Guy, for all your hard work in making your videos. Keep at it and God bless. -Matt

[@megan4661]

I just found your videos and I'm in love! I wish you could have been my history teacher! You explain it so well and keep attention and make it interesting! Over the next few weeks I'll be combing through your past videos!! :D Thank you for your hard work, sir!

[@johnm5408]

I really enjoy your series. I have watched several and have learned from all of them. Good work

[@LoPhatKao]

For more in-depth detail, read or watch "Command and Control" by Eric Schlosser. A great read, shame how the Air Force treated the PTS team afterwards.

[@therightstuffAK]

LoPhatKao I agree, the book was excellent!

[@BobOgden1]

Serendipity, I'm just reading this now

[@thebuzzcjc]

I'll have to read it. I've seen a good longer documentary on here and agree the treatment of the team was terrible.

[@fk4515]

Well unfortunately that's the way much of the Air Force treats everyone (except Pilots), didn't take me long to realize a friggin bomber was more important than me. I served as a Munitions Maintenance Officer, after watching the documentary "Command and Control" and other information on the event would lead me to believe that the Wing was sloppy and wasn't doing a acceptable job of enforcing standards or providing adequate leadership. It would also appear that the wing wasn't training or current on emergency action checklists or the command was negligent in not having current emergency action checklists. The bottom line is they needed to have or perform procedures to keep the LEL (Lower Explosive Limits) below the threshold, meaning when the missile started leaking there should of been established procedures implemented to keep the vapor level below the level that would allow it ignite. It would be interesting if you would review the incident in which Minot Air Force base lost accountability on several Cruise missile warheads by shipping them to a sister wing thinking they training payloads. Or the hot dog pilot who killed his crew at Fairchild when he tried to do basic fighter maneuvers in a B-52 at less than 1,000 feet altitude (it stalled without sufficient altitude to allow for the recovery of sustainable flight)

[@prismstudios001]

Sorry but the Airman that started the leak by dropping the wrench took a risky safety procedure shortcut that did not end well. He should have gotten into trouble for it.

[@desdenova1]

"Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety" by Eric Schlosser is a fantastic book about this subject. Few people actually realize how precarious our position is, teetering on the brink of nuclear devastation, intentional or accidental...

[@will_der_dude]

I can't believe I just found your channel! This was an excellent presentation... thank you!

[@ESPLTD322]

Awesome man I’ve never heard of this. You go into a great amount of detail as well. Well done

[@gaeltachtlady01]

I can assure you that no person alive today living in Arkansas when this occurred has forgotten. If the warhead had detonated, the potential for damage and loss of life still makes my blood run cold. At the time this occurred, I was was 15 and living less than 30 miles away. All anybody knew at the time was that a nuclear missile in Damascus had exploded, nothing more. I still say a prayer of gratitude when driving by that location.

[@NorthernChev]

Top notch updated version!

[@cedarvalleyrail8419]

I never thought I'd keep watching a KZbinr I was forced to watch in history class, absolutely love it all!

[@BrendanKenny]

I wish I had KZbin in my history classes; the content now on KZbin is amazing to me.

[@rogerhupp3115]

So glad I stumbled upon this channel. Fantastic content!

[@stoneyll]

Another fascinating update.. I was 20 years old in 1980 and had no idea this happened.. Thank you for the updates.

[@daffidavit]

I was 28 at the time and learned about this event only after reading (listening) "Command and Control" by Eric Schlosser. A must read if you want to learn about the Damascus event but also if you want to learn about many other times we almost nuke ourselves by accident. We came very close a few times. Amazing book.

[@spliceoncharlie]

Enjoy your video. Good stuff. What about the Beta "vs" VCR. I lived about 12 miles south from this silo when it exploded. I remember this happening overnight and school being cancelled the next day. Not sure how long after the explosion, but the warhead was driven through our town on a flatbed truck under some tarps, with tons of police and military escort vehicles as well as several choppers in the air. To a young kid it was like a Hollywood movie coming down the main street of your town and everyone lined the street for the "radiation" parade. It was great. At this time in central Arkansas there were 18 different missile silos and after this explosion only 17 still had active missiles. Growing up here in central Arkansas and always being within a few miles of any one of these silos I do not remember any kind of panic or fear of the missiles even after this explosion. Wish they could have saved at least one for an Arkansas Missile Silo Museum.

[@rustykoenig3566]

Most of my family is in Clinton, Harrison, Marshall, Shirley. Family cemetary is at the chruch in Denard. The closest beer strore is in Centerridge very near the silo even to this day lol. Think I was like 4 or 5 when it happened and I dont remember the actual incident only what stories were told by those that did.

[@justinmills8084]

Thank you for sharing these stories. I enjoy your channel very much.

[@johnkaiser353]

The only thing I remember of this incident was a safety poster I saw when I was in the service at the time. It read "See this crater? Now tell us about shortcuts."

[@guarenchafa4912]

One thing to add was how most of the Airmen involved were shunned and reprimanded instead of rewarded for their acts of heroism in trying to deal with the events of this incident.

[@christianbuczko1481]

They were NOT allowed to use a shortcut when doing the job, but they did anyway and it was their incompetency which dropped the socket as a result. It was a known risk apparently.

[@jhonn3908]

@Brad Carter drop the socket and you blow up the rocket

[@silent_stalker3687]

Jonathon Ma What if they drop the bass?

[@thomasmuir5653]

I wouldn’t say they’re paid a lot not to drop wrenches.

[@danmurphy6080]

Let's get this straight before anyone gets any wild ideas, back in the 80's you drew pro-pay (60.00), that's it. You can dispel that fantasy of being paid a great deal of money to not do something. Never happened.

[@stantarver7005]

I was a photographer at Little Rock AFB after it blew up. I went out to this particular site on three occasions to photograph the site. It was unbelievable. Check out the documentary “Command and Control” for photos, interviews, and detailed information.

[@fivizzano]

by far the VERY BEST history illustrator - documentarist !

[@lulumoon6942]

The amount of technical and sensitive information so thoroughly researched and succinctly delivered is astonishing! 👀

[@bobgrant-beer3020]

Bloody great Video Sir. Thanks.

[@CromemcoZ2]

Thanks for updating. Accurate information about the warhead makes this a far superior video. :)

[@everythingisawesomebaby2290]

I like how you honored airman David Livingston, a hero who gave it all.

[@deborahbarber1510]

David Livingston's father was our neighbor when this happened. Very sad time.

[@thetruth3768]

Cost the taxpayers $20 mil. Not the military.

[@NotMe35971]

Military is sponsored by tax payer. Why you think they waste so much money? They give no damn shit.

[@terryeffinp]

@@NotMe35971 Because there is no incentive for accountability, that goes for any government ran program that has a monopoly in a particular service. Eh hem, like the post office.

[@charlesballiet7074]

@@terryeffinp post office is not a monopoly theres 4 other major packaging carriers that span the entire country

[@terryeffinp]

@Brandon Toad "The Postal Service reported a net loss of $2.7 billion for 2017. It has lost $65.1 billion since 2007" The post office is the only one who can deliver to your mail box and PO box. They also charge rates that are way too low because they are a gov't subsidized entity they can undercut any competition.

[@maru5522]

@@terryeffinp The point of a government agency is not to make a profit but to provide a service. It's perfectly well that they have low rates, isn't that a good thing?

[@michaelbuckers]

The reason nuclear bombs can't detonate by accident is because they use implosion design, where a hollow sphere of nuclear fuel is surrounded by high explosives, and is must be compressed into supercritical solid sphere to explode, which requires perfect timing of every single explosive charge detonation. The first implosion designs were using a simple lump of explosives, and they quickly found out that the shockwave propagates in a spherical fashion from the ignition point, so there were multiple "spheres" pushing on the core - tearing it to shreds instead of compressing, as there were plenty of room between the shockwave leading edges for material to escape into. To mitigate this, they created an "explosion lens", an explosive charge made of two different types of explosives with different shockwave speeds, cut into carefully designed shape, such that the leading edge of the shockwave bends inside out and comes as the same shape as the core to be compressed. Since all shockwaves must arrive simultaneously to actually compress the core instead of tearing it apart, ignition timing must be extremely precise, and the timing of spontaneous ignition due to heat is basically random. In practice, there's the same chance of winning every lottery ticket you ever buy as for nuclear warhead to explode without proper ignition.

[@vylbird8014]

This was covered in the video. It's true that just overheating the implosion lens couldn't trigger it in such a way as to detonate the core, but there is another failure mode - the electronics intended to generate the precisely timed detonation could conceivably have been triggered by the fire. Insulation melts, components short - it's unlikely, but not impossible, for a missile of such a dated design to detonate through a heat-induced activation of the trigger mechanism.

[@michaelbuckers]

@@vylbird8014 Such circuits are specifically designed not to activate in case of failure. Probably things like relays that are kept engaged by external power and should it fail, they disengage. I understand the "60s technology" argument but even in 60s people weren't stupid enough to overlook possibility of things like static charge spark causing the warhead to detonate.

[@Legitpenguins99]

I remember years ago my grandfather explaining to me how nukes are actually extremely stable and borderline impossible to accidentally set off. He was a nuclear physicist and was a airforce officer for 20 years so he really knew what he was talking about.

[@JustinHappenstance]

SO interesting, thanks for the mental picture of how it works. It's a chain reaction and the radioactive element is the synergy. At the end of the video he said that liquid fuels are not used as propellants anymore in missiles. Do you know what is used?

[@timothyswag3594]

@@JustinHappenstance Hi. We no longer use liquid propellant. We just use memes as the fuel source. Thanks for your interest.

[@karladoesstuff]

I remember this well. I was temporarily out of the state, and I stayed glued to the news, terrified for my family.

[@patrickwalsh2884]

There were around ten safety features for the W-53/B53 to prevent unauthorized detonation. The warhead was blown into a ditch where it was found when it was walked on by a searcher. The weapon was sent to Pantex plant in Texas for post mortem. Very interesting report from Sandia National Labs on with color pics, too.

[@simonkimberly6956]

This was a very interesting video!

[@longlakeshore]

It happened the week I started freshman year in college. Big sighs of relief that the warhead didn't explode and that no contamination occurred. I grew up next to a SAC airbase. We were lucky to get out of the Cold War alive but the Sword of Damocles hangs over us still.

[@christianfreedom-seeker934]

Not really, the last nuclear warheads were scrapped during the Obama Administration. We have 0 nuclear warheads and 0 nuclear weapons as of 2019 unless there are a few more being scrapped.

[@nick29203]

@@christianfreedom-seeker934 Where are you getting this information? Are you on crack?

[@OCnStiggs]

I served as a Titan launch crew member stationed in Tucson during that period... Unknown to the Air Force during this crisis was a Little Rock TV news reporter who had gotten inside the evacuation area and set up a VHS camera pointed at the site from barely 1200 feet from the silo closure door. His film which survived, was used to decode the series of events right after the explosion. In the film, which was shown to us at DMAFB, the explosion blew the million and a half pound silo closure door off like a Frisbee. Stunningly, is a couple of frames following the initial blast, stage two of the missile could be seen exiting the launch tube and rising clear of the ground. It is thought that at that point, the subsidence of massive over-pressure after the blast caused something in the plumbing inside stage two to rupture, resulting in the second blast. It was this detonation that sent the RV with the nuke inside, sailing down the site access road where it came to rest in a ditch, pretty much intact. The RV outer shell is made of ablative glass material and it was slightly crushed from the fall but it was all in one piece. I am not sure if the TV reporter survived the blast or not. Titan missiles run oxidizer rich to ensure all the fuel is consumed. This accounts for the red "smoke" surrounding a Titan launch. Had anyone breathed in that oxidizer following the explosion, it would have liquefied their lungs. The missile sites in Arizona were very remote. Most could get one or two TV stations while many had no reception at all. SAC bought some early TV sets for the missile sites with PONG built into the TV to keep the missile crews busy. After playing pong for fifteen minutes, you never wanted to play it again. I never saw crews playing Pong on alert. Thanks SAC. What a weird job for a 25 year-old being a Missile Combat Crew Commander... Seemed normal to me back then!

[@wynstansmom829]

You were in a Titan, then? We use to hear stories about you guys and your pranks. lol I was in the Command Post (274) on the Mac side, that night. Your comment on the tv reporter is interesting. Our senior officers had just begun using those large mobile phones that we called 'Bricks'. It quickly became apparent that mobile phones near the location were not secure.

[@Yalnif5200]

@@wynstansmom829 The explosion led to the formation of a secure comm team that works directly for the SECDEF that is still in operation today.

[@richardbaker5183]

Once again a video that informs and entertains. Good job man!

[@lesbsocal9107]

There's a book that discribes this incident in great detail . "Command and Control" by Eric Schlosser.

[@Gail1Marie]

It's an excellent book, BTW, and a must-read for anyone interested in the US nuclear program.

[@DoomerONE]

I watched the amazing documentary about this on Netflix. Truly an awesome story.

[@babboon]

JAS Aerial what’s the title of the documentary?

[@qbertq1]

The book "Command and Control" by Greg Schlosser is a great read also. Not just about the accident, but about the history of nuclear safety and nuclear surety.

[@duluthbro]

In 1965, near Searcy, AK, a Titan II silo was being renovated for strengthening against nuclear attack when a fire broke out. 55 workers were trapped in the silo, with all dying except two, one of the survivors being a 17 year old on his first day on the job. The missile had its warhead removed, but was still fueled; despite this, it was not damaged, and was removed and relocated. By an amazing coincidence, that missile - serial number 62-0006 - was the same one that exploded in this incident.

[@carbonking53]

My Uncle was Titan 2 missile silo commander in this unit in Arkansas in the 70s. He was on numerous occasions assigned to this very silo where the explosion took place a few years later. He's got some great stories of Cold War and the many alerts and drills they ran for readiness on a regular basis. He always mentions the feeling the silo crew got when they were running through a launch sequence not knowing if they were getting ready to end the world until the sequence was not authenticated and the the drill was over and you were standing down.

[@1978garfield]

Also I love that the county sheriff was able to listen in on the "top secret" Air Force communications. It was much harder back then to search for radio traffic. Programmable scanners came out in the 70's. However you had to program in the frequency you wanted to listen to in binary. Seriously, my grandfather got one used in the 80s. It came with a huge manual. You looked up the frequency you wanted to listen to and it gave you a programing sequence in binary. I think it was 16 bit, the scanner had a 0 and a 1 key instead of a full keypad like they have now. I don't know if by 1980 they had scanners you could search a band with.

[@stevecooper2873]

They did.

[@Oldbmwr100rs]

I remember this when it happened. One thing I also remember was that it was compared to carter's reelection campaign exploding.

[@sostrows]

Went to the Tucson museum due to this video. Highly recommend, a good 2 hour experience. Most guides are still folks who served in these locations as of 2019. When we visited we were talking to locals who had an uncle who owned one of the decommissioned sites west of Tucson. He bought the property, dug down to the center building and built a staircase, threw up a house on top of the staircase. He has complete access to the control center also. Thanks for the video!

[@AM-021]

Love the channel and diversity of the content. Awesome!

[@jimjimx5418]

The documentary is called “command and control” on PBS.

[@ernestbywater411]

I recently became aware of your channel and find it interesting. I've got a couple of ideas you may want to consider for future articles: 1. The origins of the Special Air Service and their first few operations in WW2. 2. The Operations of the Australian Coast Watchers in the Pacific Islands during WW2. 3. The Australian Z Special Unit and their actions in the Pacific Islands during WW2.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

All great ideas! Thanks!

[@ernestbywater411]

You're welcome. Back in the 1960s I read a sort of biography on the early years of the SAS called 'The Phantom Major' which was about how Major Sterling established the SAS and the problems they had putting the original concept into practice, until they changed how they deployed. While I've seen some info about the others I've never seen them properly covered. I think you can do a good job on them.

[@dwight2812]

Well done History Guy, facts presented like only you can

[@MrLoftyDreams]

I love this channel, but in this video, my favourite image is that used of the Top Loading VCR, as this is not only a Top Loading VCR from that time, it's also a Betamax Top Loading VCR. Extra memorable ☺️

[@N-Scale]

I do not remember it but sounds hauntingly familiar to the Russian Sub incident near Bermuda , you brought us. Thanks , Mike

[@jwenting]

similar technology was involved. So yes, the incidents are pretty similar.

[@jimcurt99]

I've been to the Titan Museum here in Tucson... was VERY interesting .... an amazing structure

[@MonkeyJedi99]

As soon as you said "hypergolic" I winced. I've read the short book "Detonation!" about the development of rocket fuels, and that word gives me shivers every time I hear it.

[@skyindustries]

You are doing wonderful work, many thanks. These are like min University courses. Best part, though difficult to pick just one: your delivery and enthusiasm for your subjects. Very well done indeed.

[@acchaladka]

Great video, once again. As to your final question, could this happen again today, I concur. However, you will probably want to read the work of Charles Perrow on statistically determined events. Basically he’s saying that in complex systems tightly interlinked, running a large number of iterations / interactions, a systems-level failure is a question of when, not whether. He works out of Yale, and mostly on maritime disaster prevention if I remember correctly.

[@williamlin2076]

I like how it’s supposed to deliver nuclear weapons yet a 8 pound preoce of metal made it blow up

[@briananderson3801]

The socket probably weighed about 20 pounds or more being dropped from 80 ft ,,,,it went right through what ever it hit ,they say a penny dropped from the Empire State Building will go completely through a human body from head to toe

[@realironballs]

Outstanding video! Thank you! Just subscribed.

[@thanksfernuthin]

I had the good fortune of visiting the Titan II Museum with a friend of mine that was stationed in one. He was able to tell me lots of stuff you'd normally not hear. You're automatically put in the position of imagining what you'd think if you got the go signal.

[@liberate72000]

Fascinating and quite worrying story. Do you have anything on the soviet nuclear history? I would love to hear a piece on the Chelyabinsk nuclear incident of 1957 or anything on their nuclear tests. Though there are pieces regarding this on the internet I feel yours would be to the point and yet far more in depth, you would make sure it’s worth being remembered.

[@tpwkcarlie2707]

nice to know that my whole state almost blew up!

[@slayingdeathgaming5537]

Cuddly Colbs it’s unfortunate that it didn’t

[@nhmooytis7058]

Cuddly Colbs wish it had hit the Clintons....

[@slartybarfastb3648]

It wouldn't have blown up Arkansas. A 40 mile radius around the warhead if it detonated as an airburst at around 5'000 feet. Detonation on the ground would have been significantly less. Perhaps a 5 mile radius as the blast is deflected upward instead of down.

[@flash5406]

Really enjoy your videos!

[@Magnolia-xf5fb]

Love your channel and enjoy your work!