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Please note: this is a scanned, OCRed, HTMLed version of the original text. Some art work and the data on the group officers is not included. Also the petition for Indiana Citizens only is not included.

THE NIKE PRESERVATION GROUP
NEWSLETTER

A Nonprofit Organization Dedicated to the Preservation of American Cold War History


Volume 1, Issue 3 ---- 1 October 1998

Editors: Don & Susan Peterson, Phone (317) 776-3868
E-Mail dspeterson@musa.org
The Nike Preservation Group, 211277 Clare Avenue, Noblesville, Indiana 46060


The Nike Preservation Group became incorporated as a nonprofit organization effective September 16, 1998


DECISION ON ACQUISITION

This month The Indiana Division of Museums and Historic Sites will meet to decide whether to consider acquisition of the C47 Launcher Area as a State Historic Site. The Board of Trustees (for the Division of State Museums and Historic Sites) will review the application and consider adding the site to the state's landholdings.

The official position of The Nike Preservation Group is that the State of Indiana has a responsibility to acquire and preserve this site for future generations. The Group has presented a plan to the state which would allow The Nike Preservation Group to provide the means to preserve and restore the site. The Group's plan was submitted as part of the application to the Indiana State Museums and Historic Sites. Please send your letters in support of the C47 Launcher Area becoming a state-owned historic site to:

The Board of Trustees
Indiana State Museums and Historic Sites
202 N. Alabama Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204


CALL FOR ACTION!

NATIONAL REGISTER
RECOMMENDATION MEETING

The Indiana Division of Natural Resources (DNR) meets this month to determine whether they will recommend the Nike Missile Base at Wheeler, Indiana, be placed on the National Register of Historical Places. The hearing has been set for:

October 14th, 1998 at 1:30 PM
at the state office building
402 Washington Street
Conference Room C
Indianapolis, Indiana.

This is a very important hearing!

The outcome of this meeting may determine how the State of Indiana will view all Cold War artifacts in the future. If the board decides that C-47 should be listed, it may become the first Nike site in the lower forty eight states to be placed on the National Register.

What can you do to help?
Show support for the listing of C-47 on the National Register. If at all possible, try to attend the hearing on Oct 14.

Or write a letter to:

Larry O. Macklin, Director
Indiana Department of Natural Resources
402 West Washington Street. Room W274
Indianapolis, Indiana, 46204

If you can attend please contact Don Peterson (317) 776-3868, and let him know who will be representing us. By Don Peterson

New Members Since Last Month


Robert F. Cook, Indianapolis, Indiana Nike Veteran 1962-64, Caswell, Maine
George W. Runkle, Lawrenceville, GA Cold War Historian

Help with the battle to save and protect the C47 Launcher Area.

Are you interested in helping with the preservation of the Wheeler Launcher Area? Please take the attached blank petition, reproduce it and begin collecting signatures. We must be able to document the support we are witnessing. Without signatures of supporters, we face a much more difficult mission. Signatures represent voters and we all know what that means.

If each member of The Nike Preservation Group turned in only one completed petition this issue would be quickly decided by our politicians.

Please help if you can.

Thanks, Bob Peterson

Visit the Nike Sites of Indiana Web Site at:
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6540/

JOIN THE NIKE PRESERVATION GROUP

Date____________________________________

Last Name_____________________________________________________

First Name ______________________________ Middle Initial _____

Mailing Address:
Street _______________________________________________

______________________________________________________

City _________________________________________________

State __________________________ Zip Code ____________

Phone Number:
Home ____-______-_________

Work ____-______-_________

E-Mail Address ________________________________________

Are you a Veteran? (Yes) (No)

Did you work with Nike Systems? (Yes) (No)

Were you stationed at a Nike site? (Yes) (No)

If so, Where and When?__________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Are you interestid in volunteering labor at C-47? (Yes) (No)

What do you think you cold help with?________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Mailto: The Nike Preservation Group. Inc.
21277 Clare Avenue
Noblesville, Indiana 46060

Join now and save a membership fee. Membership fees will be introduced once the group has secured a non-for-profit status.

Annual Membership Fees will be determined by the Board of Directors at the first scheduled meeting. Purpose of the membership fee is to offset the administrative cost of group membership. The cost of newsletters, postage and membership tracking are all typical administrative costs.

The Search for C-44
Wolf Lake, Illinois

by
Tom Vaughn
On a recent trip to Merrillville, Indiana, I convinced my teenage daughter that it would not be out of the way to look for the remains of the Nike C-44 site on Wolf Lake. Four hours later she wanted to know if I understood the the meaniny of the term "not out of the way".

Wolf Lake is on the Indiana and Illinois State line. Nike (Ajax) C-44 was on the west side of Wolf lake in the William W. Powers State Conservation Area, which is within the Chicago City Limits. (The launcher area of C-44 is in a Cook County forest preserve which is within the state conservation area.)

On this first trip to find C-44 we were unsuccessful. We couldn't even find the conservation area it was suppose to be in. We asked several people in the area but no one knew what we were talking about. The IFC (radar) location given at one of the Nike home pages said "west of 136 Street". We found 136 Steet, but that street runs east-west so there was no "west of". After searching for a while I had a hungry, mad teenager on my hands so it was time to go.


During the next week I called information and got the number of the conservation area. I called and asked the man who answered, Saki Villalobos, for directions to the area and asked if he could tell me how to get to the Nike site. Saki gave me the infomiation I needed and asked me why I was interested in C-44. I told him about the work we are doing with C-47. It turns out that Saki is the park manager and is setting up a memorial at the C-44 location. He has received a Nike Ajax missile from the people at the SF-88 site. It was in the shop being sandblasted and painted. He is now in the planning stage of how to display it. He has also found stone markers at the site that had been placed as a memorial to men killed in action during World War II. These markers had been lost for many years and only recently found. The area around these markers has been restored. He is adding Ihe Nike Ajax missile as part of an overall memorial.

Seeing that we had a lot in comnion and still wanting to see the site, I drove out to the park on Sunday. With better directions, found the park but still couldn't find the missile site. This is a huge park with lots of forest and wetlands. I went to the park headquarters and found that Saki was in his office with several friends. His office is in the home the state gives him to live in. He told me how to get to both sites of C-44. Then we all drank beer and told Nike stories for a couple of hours. First I visited the launcher area, which at this site had the administration are a co-located with it. The launcher/admin area is about 3 timesthe size of the C-47 launcher area. It is in a very nice location and appears to have been a double site, as there were 16 launchers.

There are no buildings or fences left. The magazines looked like they were filled in some time ago It is still worth a visit to see the size of this site and it is located in a pretty area.

Now it was time to find the IFC area. The nearest street location is North-North-East of Ave K & 133rd Street. This area is within the state park and is located right on the lake. One of the towers was sitting in the middle of a creek. It is about a 3/4 mile hike in from where you park your car. This area is wooded and was kind of spooky as the sun was starting to set. As I walked through the woods I found a radar tower that had fallen over years ago. This reminded me of the scene from the movie Planet of the Apes where Heston finds the remains of the Statue of Liberty on the beach. I found four radar towers, all of them concrete. three of them were very tall and one was shorter. Saki told me that there were five towers (guess I missed one) and they haven't found out why there were five towers and not three. Remember, this was an Ajax site, so it should not have had HIPAR radar. The IFC area was very small. All the building foundations were small, as you would expect to find at a radar-only area.

Again let me say that this site is worth a visit, evelr with the buildings gone. Just ask for Saki Villalobos at the park headquarters for directions. The number of Saki's office is (773) 646-3270


(A Petition for citizens of the State of Indiana is not included in this re-production of the newsletter.)

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Originated October 12, 1998