Rocket boosters seek support
Backers are hoping to build a memorial to Long Island's role in housing defense missiles during the Cold War
BY BILL BLEYER
Newsday Staff Writer
October 24, 2006
In the 1960s, when the threat of nuclear war between superpowers
seemed very real, Long Island was dotted with missile, tracking and
command facilities designed to keep the Soviet Union at bay. While that
era is largely forgotten, some local history buffs are trying to get it
back on the radar by creating a heritage trail.
Boosters of what would be the nation's first Cold War Heritage Trail will gather today at the American Airpower Museum at Republic Airport to try to gather support for the concept.
But the state parks department, while supporting the idea, says the
trail with historical markers and interpretative displays will not be
created in the near future because of budget and staffing issues.
Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington), a history buff who organized today's event, and museum officials hope the East Farmingdale facility would be one stop on the trail that would run from a former Nike missile base in Lido Beach to the huge radar installation at Camp Hero near Montauk Point.
The specific reason for today's gathering is to unveil the museum's newest relic, a 6,000-pound Nike Hercules missile loaned by the Cradle of Aviation Museum at Mitchel Field. The missile will be restored and then join three aircraft of the same era - including a U.S. F-111 - already in the museum's collection to form a Cold War exhibit, president Jeff Clyman said.
The missile, which carried an atomic warhead designed to destroy Soviet bombers, is believed to have been deployed on Long Island, he said. "It protected our shores much the same way as the batteries in the old forts did in earlier wars. We're tickled to have it."
A Long Island Cold War trail has been advocated by historians for many years. Israel approached the state after learning one of the Nike bases was in his district. "[I] asked them to work with me on developing a Cold War trail because the contributions of men and women who worked in our defense factories and the military itself during the Cold War have been largely forgotten," he said.
(Read the entire story here...)
Boosters of what would be the nation's first Cold War Heritage Trail will gather today at the American Airpower Museum at Republic Airport to try to gather support for the concept.
Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington), a history buff who organized today's event, and museum officials hope the East Farmingdale facility would be one stop on the trail that would run from a former Nike missile base in Lido Beach to the huge radar installation at Camp Hero near Montauk Point.
The specific reason for today's gathering is to unveil the museum's newest relic, a 6,000-pound Nike Hercules missile loaned by the Cradle of Aviation Museum at Mitchel Field. The missile will be restored and then join three aircraft of the same era - including a U.S. F-111 - already in the museum's collection to form a Cold War exhibit, president Jeff Clyman said.
The missile, which carried an atomic warhead designed to destroy Soviet bombers, is believed to have been deployed on Long Island, he said. "It protected our shores much the same way as the batteries in the old forts did in earlier wars. We're tickled to have it."
A Long Island Cold War trail has been advocated by historians for many years. Israel approached the state after learning one of the Nike bases was in his district. "[I] asked them to work with me on developing a Cold War trail because the contributions of men and women who worked in our defense factories and the military itself during the Cold War have been largely forgotten," he said.
(Read the entire story here...)
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