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(summarized from
"A History of Engineering and Science in the Bell System:
National Service in War and Peace (1925-1975)" This was the next generation of gun director. The SCR-584/M-9 combination had been primarily optical angle input, with range assistance from the radar. The M-33 was all radar input (angles and range) with a telescope to visually assure that the tracked target was in fact hostile type. More details :-)) Many of the components of the M-33 system were incorporated directly (with out significant change) into the Nike system. These included:
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Nike Ajax
Copies of the memorandum were sent to the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and
Bell Telephone Laboratory (BTL) for their consideration and comments.
In February 1945, the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps and the Army Air Force
asked Bell Labs to explore the possibility of ...
In June 1945, Bell Labs and its manufacturing arm, Western Electric,
began development of the new system, Douglas Aircraft Company was selected
as the major subcontractor to design and manufacture the missile, booster,
and launching equipment. The program was initiated by contract
W-30-069-ORD-3182 ..."
The above is quoted from
"Rings of Supersonic Steel, Air Defenses of the United States
Army 1950-1979 - an introductory history and site guide" by Mark L. Morgan
and Mark A Berhow.
Many firms contributed tools, small parts, major missile parts,
and ground support equipment. Most of the radar assemblies,
computer assemblies and the battery control equipment have
Western Electric markings and part numbers.
Western Electric was the Prime Contractor.
A White Sands Missile Range
web page has some interesting pictures of early Nike Ajax and the unusual booster.
In my not so humble opinion, I think they made a very good product.
"
Project Nike, named after the winged goddess of victory in Greek mythology,
came into being in February 1945 when the U.S. Army Ordnance
Corps and the Air Force asked Bell Laboratories to explore the
possibilities of a new antiaircraft defense system to combat future enemy
bombers invading friendly territory at such high speeds and high altitudes
that conventional artillery could not effectively cope with them. This study
resulted in a verbal report in May 1945 followed in July 1945 by a written
document called the AAGM Report ("A Study of an Antiaircraft Guided
Missile system"). This far-sighted proposal represented the results of five
months of very intensive study by a small, closely knit group of scientists
and engineers, which included W. A. McNain, H. W. Bode,
G. N. Thayer, J. W. Tukey, and B. D. Holbrook. It was vitally important to
ensure the development of a new weapon so expeditiously that it could
be tactically available by the time any enemy might conceivable have
high-speed, high-altitude bombers in tactical operation. Therefore, the
study group postulated that the defense equipment should be derived,
as far as possible, from devices, methods and techniques well known and
understood. Furthermore, the group argued, its development should not
await the results of research projects that were still in a stage of uncertain
success, such as those on ramjet engines, radically new fuels, and drastically
new guidance or homing techniques. Another axiom of the system
design philosophy was that the expendable projectile should be as simple
and inexpensive as possible and thus leave the more complex and more
expensive equipment on the ground, where it would have the benefit of
routine maintenance and least severe environment. This aspect
of the design philosophy was maintained through some 30 years of Bell
Laboratories work on air defense systems.
The AAGM Report was considered a classic in its thoroughness because
of its insight and scope covering a wide spectrum of disciplines from
propulsion and guidance to prospective aerodynamics and because of the
small amount of time (five months) required to complete such an in-depth
study that formed a solid conceptual basis for the five years of R and D
work that followed. The specific recommendations of the proposal were:
Immediately after the verbal presentation of the AAGM Report in May
1945, the Army Ordnance Corps, with the agreement of the Air Force,
assumed full responsibility for the Project Nike and charged Western Electric
and Bell Laboratories with full responsibility for its development. Bell
Laboratories realized that while its engineering staff comprised outstanding
experts in the fields of radio, radar, communications, mathematics,
computers, and servo systems, the job would profit from entrusting
certain tasks outside these areas, notably those concerning projectiles and
their propulsion, to specialists with previous experience in these branches
of technology. The integration of the individual efforts into a smoothly
functioning organization would remain the responsibility of Western
Electric and Bell Labs, the prime contractor. The Douglas Aircraft Company
(and later the McDonnel Douglas Astronautics Corporation), which had
already been active in the missile field during World War II, was selected
as the major subcontractor on the design of the missile, booster, and launcher.
The relationship with Douglas grew into an essentially full
partnership lasting for the next 30 years of work in the nation's defense.
With regard to this team effort, the late Army General H. N. Toftoy, when
acting as chairman for a classified presentation before the Institute of
Aeronautical Sciences commented, "It is interesting to note that the success
of the project under these conditions was made possible by the rapid
communications and transportation provided by the peacetime products
of two concerns - the telephone and the airplane."
The following is abstracted from the next 17 pages of text, diagrams and
pictures from the same source and section:
"The search acquisition radar required to complete the system was already
under development as part of the M33 antiaircraft system." ...
"One of the major projects was the development of tracking radar
with a degree of accuracy never before attained. In the fall of 1945
a searching study of echo fluctuation measurements on airplanes in flight
led to the conclusion that conical lobing methods would be inadequate to
yield the smoothness and accuracy of data required for the Nike system.
Rapid echo amplitude variations of 20 to 30 decibles (dB) had been measured.
Hence, a more accurate radar in which a complete angle measurement was made
every pulse, called monopulse, would have to be developed specifically to
meet the Nike requirement of one-half-mil standard deviation of angular
difference between the line of sight to target and the missile. ..."
"Another important radar feature responded to the need for obtaining
high transmitter power, with a wide range of tunability, to obtain the
maximum protection against jamming. The tube department therefore
developed two tunable magntrons for the Nike (and M33) track and
search radars - one a 250-kW X-band magnetron, the other a 1,000-kW
S-band magnetron. J. P. Molnar was responsible for the successful
development of these advanced magnetrons, tunable over a 12-percent band. ..."
"In the end, Western Electric produced 358 ground batteries and delivered
14,000 missile control and guidance units to Douglas for assembly in a
similar number of Nike-Ajax missiles. ... "
?White Sands Test?
Nike Hercules
The kill radius of such a warhead would force
any enemy to space its attackers to avoid multiple losses. The
resulting system change to Nike-Ajax, initially called Nike-B and later
Nike-Hercules, was mane so that the ground system could fire both
Nike-Ajax missiles and the larger, longer-range Nike-Hercules missiles
from the same battery. ... The acquisition radar for the Nike-Hercules system
was a modified version of that used in Nike-Ajax, the antenna of which looked much like
the M33 antenna shown in Fig. 7-2.
One of the principal changes was the
introduction of a traveling-wave-tube RF Amplifier that provided a low-noise-figure
receiver giving greater range performance than the Nike-Ajax receiver.
The target track radar was also modified to give much longer range performance,
obtained in part through the use of a larger and more efficient antenna
like the Cassegrainian parabolic reflector. ...
The designers established the requirements for such a radar operating in
the L-band called "high-power acquisition radar" (HIPAR), and Bell Labs and Western
Electric chose General Electric to develop and manufacture it. .... The "kill" of
a Corporal ballistic missile in June 1960 marked the first intercept of
a ballistic missile in this performance class. ...
Another capability of the improved system, the ability to detect and
track targets in severe electronic countermeasure (ECM) environments, was
demonstrated with equal success. ... The success of the overall
Nike-Hercules program is illustrated by the 393 Nike-Hercules
ground systems produced by Western Electric at its North Carolina Works
and the more than 9,000 guidance units for the Douglas Hercules missile. ... "
Ken Behr provided a page showing Hercules deliveries per month,
averaging about 10 systems per month during 1958 through 1960.
from Bill Shaffer - May 2007
Capt. Robert Lindemann commanded the conversion activity at the site, securely located on the site of the Atomic Energy Commission's Argonne National Laboratory.
AEC and DOD inspections occurred almost daily.
The 22nd Arty Group commander, Col. Avery W. Masters, was on-site virtually every day, as well.
Transition was smooth and the site was operational on time and on-budget.
Bill Shaffer
Nike Zeus
The following is abstracted from section 1.6.3 "Nike-Zeus":
and on for 30 more pages.
I do not provide more information as the Nike Zeus system as it was never released
for large scale deployment.
Return to beginning of "history"
Dates in the History of the Nike program
Return to beginning of "History"
A press announcement
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 1952 (AP)
Training Started
Thanks to Jay Michalsky
Hercules Funding
Air Defense Funds
Missile Installations
Thanks to Jay Michalsky
Nike Hazards
Industrial equipment often adds other potential hazards including hydraulic
fluid 3,000 pounds per square inch,
heavy objects that can fall onto or roll over people,
very high voltages with potential for very high current, petroleum based fuels,
interesting chemicals, etc.
Military equipment often includes further potential for hazards
including war heads, very flammable (almost explosive) propellants,
extremely high power radar, etc.
The Nike systems had all of the above.
(A maintenance man at our site tried to use the missile tracking radar as a
birth control measure. He would turn on the radar beam and climb up onto the radar
mount and stand spread eagle in front of the antenna every evening- for 15 minutes at a time!
The method did not seem to work as his wife got pregnant during the several months
that he did this.
The father and baby were just fine!)
A scary earthquake situation
While I was in the service, we heard of only one serious accident, the following
accidental launch, but very few details reached us.
The following is from the New York Times, April 15, 1955.
" ... WASHINGTON, April 14 -- A Nike guided missile, misguided,
supersonic and loaded to kill,
ran away from its launching platform at near by Fort Mead, Md, this afternoon.
The explosion occurred about three miles away. The altitude was not known.
The giant missile streaked into the sky, burning a sergeant as it blasted off,
and blew apart with a tremendous explosion over a sparsely settled area. ...
" ... Sgt. Stanley C. Kozak of Allentown, Pa was standing seven feet away
during the "gun" drill. ... He suffered "minor burns." ... The runaway missile
took off from a temporary emplacement occupied by Battery C,
Thirty-sixth AntiAaircraft Battalion, while its permanent position was being built.
The position is one of many being thrown around the capital and other vital target areas.
"... An automatic detonator assured the explosion high in the air of the twenty-foot
weapon, which has a diameter of one foot. A ground explosion would have
caused havoc near the heavily traveled new highway between Washington and Baltimore.
... "
Bill Evans of
web site says:
George Evans
a Nike and Army veteran of 26 year reports:
The first one was the accident that occurred at Ft Meade, MD shortly after the
system was first deployed. A few years after it occurred I had the pleasure
to serve with CWO Chester Joswick in Germany who had been the Launcher Warrant
at that site when the accident occurred. He related to me the following facts:
Since this happened shortly after the Ajax system was deployed, crew drill procedures
had not been fully refined. The procedures in place at the time were to connect
the booster squib cable anytime the Battery was called to Battle Stations to track
an unknown A/C. What is strange here is that they left the yoke support pin in place???
The Battery was called to Battle Stations. The section crew did their checks
including Stray voltage on the launcher.
The crew then went down into the section
room with the exception of the section chief who remained above ground to insure
that the launcher was up and locked. As soon as the launcher was up the missile
left the launcher. Since the forward yoke support was still in place and pinned
the missile upon leaving the launcher tore the belly out (tunnel #3) and caused
the missile to dive over instead of going straight up. The missile then flew,
horizontally low level, until the booster burned out, then struck the ground in
the vicinity of the Washington-Baltimore Expressway. The sustainer motor in the
missile never fired and the warheads did not explode. There was a fire from the
fuel and oxidizer but did little to no damage.
The missile probably did not arm
due to fact it never sustained the g-forces required to close the overboard dump
and the arming mechanisms for the warheads. Later investigation found the problem
to be an electrical short in the junction box on the outside rear of the
Launcher Control Trailer cause by rain water. Although the crew had done their
checks correctly and found no stray voltage before they connected the squib,
once the launcher was up and the light sequence established the path was then
complete for the stray voltage to go to the launcher.
Middletown, New Jersey or Leonardo /Belford
( NY-53 )
22 May 1958
"When the explosion happened, a chain reaction
resulted in which missile warheads, fuel and booster rockets exploded,
scattering debris for miles around the area. This was quite an event and
made all of the area papers, even received attention in the national
press. The Army had sold the public on the idea that Nike sites were "as
safe as gas stations" and one publication (Newseek?) punned that the gas
station had finally blown up!
"On Sandy Hook, there is a memorial to the soldiers and civilian ordnance
technicians who were killed in the blast. This is at "Guardian Park"
where a Nike Hercules upper stage and (until fairly recently) an Ajax
upper stage were on display. The Ajax was blown over during a storm, and
is going to be repaired."
Interesting that all notorious missile accidents (Nike Ajax and BOMARC-A) happened in New Jersey.
Gentlemen
I was at LC-37 WSPG, (became WSMR) from 1959 – 1961. I worked for The Air
Defense Board 4, testing industrial lot samples. I was an IFC Mechanic on
the only Hercules firing system # 1009. This system went to Florida during
the Cuban Missile Crisis in Oct-Dec 1962.
I was responsible for the TTR, Acq, RC van and the computer.
We fired about 3x per month…very exciting.
During countdown I was assigned to the MTR platform watching the launch through
an elbow scope. Once the booster separated I engaged a 35 power telescope until
intercept. Amazing task.
We were alerted in Sept 60 (I think) that we would show Herc was mobile by
CSMO to Mc Gregor range and fire for a grandstand full of VIP’s. After setup
and Q&A we were ready to fire. I don’t remember what the target was, but at
WSMR we fired several times at RCATs,
Since I was physically on the MTR platform I was hooked up with the BC van for firing.
Countdown went as normal, but at the fire command the missile exploded right above the
launcher. It knocked the external LCT on it’s side and tore the door off. No deaths
but several of the crew were injured. I WAS BLOWN OFF THE PLATFORM for about 30 feet
onto a boondock knocking me out for ???time. The VIP’s were scrambling out of the
bleachers that were about 50 feet behind the RC/BC vans. We went to “Missile Destroyed”
if that’s the call, for 30 minutes. We then turned the range over to a Marine HAWK battery.
Do any of you have any knowledge of this incident.
Al Harvard
McGregor Range - ?1962 or 3?
As I recall, French unit assembled, passed all prechecks,
proceeded to firing status, Herc left the pad, laid back, headed towards El Paso, command was
given to Burst the missile...Seems like there was some fatal deaths and injuries to French
and firing unit personnel...Do not recall all the details
............Ron Carlson
Okinawa
From: Charles Rudicil. November 6, 1998
As you know, Site 8 was located at Naha Air Base and the Missile Support
Shop was in Machinato. I worked in the support shop and can remember to
this day the sound we heard when the accident took place. Having heard many
launches before, we thought that was what it was, but we didn't see anything
take to the sky so we all thought it must have been an explosion. It didn't
take long for the facts to start coming in at the shop.
A sergeant and 2 others were doing 'stray voltage checks' using the Squib
Tester. The tests were done above ground with the launcher in the down
position. I don't know how many tests had been donebefore this one, but
when the tester was applied to this one the booster ignited, sending booster
and missile off the rail horizontally, travelling through the security
fence, across the beach, and landing in the water off shore. Upon impact
with the water, the missile broke up and the warhead skipped across the
water like a flat rock before finally sinking.
The three launcher crewmen were killed instantly by the backblast of the
booster, as I recall. Later I remember seeing the imprints of the Sgt's
boots in the hardstand where he was standing directly at the rear of the
booster. I was told that the boots had to be pried out of the hardstand.
Needless to say, it was extremely difficult to get anyone to do Stray
Voltage Checks for a long time after that.
My recollection of the cause of the accident was that there had been a lot
of water that had recently fallen and some of the cables were soaked and
lying in water in their conduits throughout the launcher area. MICOM
immediately did an investigation of the Squib Tester and fielded an urgent
MWO to prevent such a thing from happening again. I know that for months,
we support folks had a job of modifying Squib Testers and drying out cables.
The cable DX program was never in greater demand!
I wish I could remember more of the details, Ed, but time has taken its toll
on my mental facilities. Hope this will be of some use to you.
You are doing a great job with the Web Site. Keep up the good work.
Regards,
Charles Rudicil
From: Doyle Piland. Sun, 23 May 1999
Attached is an account of the Accident with the Nike Hercules missile on
Okinawa in 1959. This is the recollections of Timothy Ryan, who was there,
on-site, at the time the accident happened. I suspect this is the most
credible account we have seen. Later correspondence from Tim says the
doesn't know if the missile had a Nuke warhead or not. Based upon that, I
suspect it was a HE warhead. If it had been a Nuke, anyone that was there
would have been interviewed and debriefed for hours and hours. I'm sure
they would have known that there was something special about that missile.
Regards.
The 207th Ordnance Platoon arrived in Okinawa in January of 1959. We were
stationed at the Machinato Army Post. Because of a backlog of work, we were
temporarily assigned to assist the 96th Ordnance Detachment in performing direct
support instead of our original mission as a heavy maintenance platoon. This
temporary assignment lasted several months, if I recall accurately.
The accident occurred on a Friday, the very Friday that was our last day on direct
support. As of the next Monday we were finally going to work as a heavy maintenance
platoon which meant no more traveling to the sites. We arrived at site 8 which was
at Naha Air Base and proceeded to start work, probably installing modifications, inside
the launcher area, on one of the underground launchers just past the first launcher.
I went back upstairs for something and was told by one of the battery officers to get
my men out of the area, they were going into "blue-alert." I called downstairs for
everyone to get out, we got into our truck and drove past the first launcher again.
We stood by the guards shack watching the preparations, this was interesting stuff for
us Ordnance guys, because we never saw a missile battery go into action before. We
were asked to move away from the launcher area because they were going to raise that
missile. As we were walking away there was a tremendous explosion, I thought we were
bombed by whatever plane caused this "blue-alert." We dove behind a building with dirt
and stones raining down on us. When things stopped falling we got up and walked towards
the launcher area. I heard people moaning and could see 2 or 3 men laying on the ground.
I then realized that the launcher was still in the lowered position and that the missile
was not there!
We ran inside the fence and tried to do whatever we could for those who
were injured. One man, apparently the one who was attempting to connect the first cable
to the back of the first booster, was dead with his leg blown off and a terrible head
injury. I went over to another man who was badly injured but conscious with his fatigue
jacket and undershirt completely blown off his body and his skin peeled and burned from
the blast. I put my fatigue jacket over his upper body and my undershirt on his leg
which was also injured. Other people were also busy helping all the other injured
men.
Later I noticed that the cyclone fence, behind where the missile was positioned,
was distorted from the blast and the guard shack, where we were standing earlier had
the windows blown out. I walked up to the front of the launcher and saw a hole ripped
in the fence where the missile had gone through it. The missile was several hundred feet
away, down on what I think was a beach-like area. It was mangled pretty badly but still
in one piece, I think.
We found out later that the suspected cause of the accident was a short in the launcher
that was not detected by the squib tester which several people said they saw the man use
before he attempted to connect the cable to the booster.
That is pretty much all I can recall about that awful experience. It is quite a bit
considering it was 40 years ago. We were very fortunate that we were not among the
injured or dead, we came that close.
I don't remember ever hearing about how many died or how the injured made out.
Tim Ryan
From: Carl Durling. February 7, 1999
They had
finished assembling the missile (Nuke) and were getting it ready to raise for
electronic testing with the MTR. In the story previously given it is mentioned
that the missile went across the runway. This was not the case. The Launcher
Area was on the other side of the runways from the IFC area, and the launchers
faced the open sea. A horizontal firing would have carried it through a fence,
over a beach (patrolled by on-site MPs) and into the sea.
I know of only two
people killed and one injured. Never heard about an MP being killed. The guard
shack was not behind the missile launchers. As the replacement MTR operator, I
was given a tour of the Launcher Area and was instructed about the preventative
measures instituted because of the incident. There was debate as to whether the
lock-on by the MTR may have caused the stray voltage.
Our radars were high
enough to be able to lock-on while the missile was in the horizontal position.
So, testing was sometimes done before the missile was raised in order to save
time. This procedure changed, and no lock was allowed until the missile was
vertical.
Translated article via Jos Weijenberg
Washington Special Correspondent Yukio Zaha reporting
Fifty-eight years ago on June 19, a sunny Friday morning, a Nike Hercules surface-to-air missile equipped with a nuclear warhead was fired accidentially from U.S.-controlled Naha Air Base.
While under a blue-alert, meaning missiles were being prepared in response to a perceived threat, the booster of the missile in question was ignited by mistake due to a soldier’s blunder on a connection of the ignition system.
With a resounding roar the missile fired, and hurtled along the surface of the ocean at an incredible speed before submerging.
Left in its wake were broken and bloodied soldiers and missile fragments.
Robert Roepke, an 81-year-old former U.S. Army serviceman who worked in missile maintenance, provided his account of this disaster that happened on Naha Air Base in 1959, formerly unbeknownst to Okinawans.
According to Roepke, the Nike base in Naha had two missile launch pads facing the East China Sea.
Generally, there were just four missiles at the ready on these pads.
Fences, retaining walls, and hills surrounded the launch pads.
Roepke said he does not think people could see inside from any outside spot.
Roepke said that on the day of the incident, when he used a measuring instrument to check the connection of the ignition system, the device made a small sound indicating an abnormality.
“I don’t think we should plug it in,” he said to another soldier before he crossed the launch pad and started down a staircase to check on another machine.
In that instant, an ear-splitting roar reverberated and a blue flash like fireworks split the air overhead.
As Roepke looked in the direction of the ocean, and saw the missile drop into the water.
The soldier to whom Roepke had spoken was blown away by the launch and lay torn in half near the launch pad.
Roepke remembered: “I looked at him and his mouth was kind of going like he wanted to say something to me.
Basica lly, he was dead already.
” Another soldier burned by the fire from the missile’s booster was blown into the fence.
He was administered first aid while another missile equipped with high explosives was being moved and prepared for launch.
Then the stand down order came through the chain of command.
Roepke said: “As far as I know I might be the only one involved who is still living.
I would be glad to talk about it now that we’re free, because I would like to get my stuff on record.”
When asked if he wanted to convey anything to Okinawans he said: “The missiles were for defense and not aggression.
We were there to protect the people of Okinawa as well as our own interests.”
(English translation by T&CT and Erin Jones)
from Robert Roepke, Feb 8, 2022
I do not know what voltage was supplied to ignite them but very little was needed.
The meter we used on that day to check for stray voltage was not very sensitive to
small charges and was replaced after the accident.
When I initially checked the voltage on this missile I saw a very small blip and
I was aware of the danger because I was trained to put the Igniters into the boosters
and place the cords into the squib.
Added by me (Ed Thelen) Feb 7, 2002 - in response to questions
I understand the same -
The 1958 "incident" is not mentioned here
I've been curious why the ignition of the Nike booster
Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- An anti-aircraft missile was launched accidentally
into busy airspace over the western city of Inchon today, injuring at least
three people on the ground. The missile was destroyed automatically by a
built-in safety device seconds after it left the launcher, sending a shower of
metal fragments over a nearby residential area, officials said. The Defense
Ministry said the Nike-Hercules missile was fired accidentally by an
electronic circuit malfunction during a routine training session.
Regards......jp
Jungpil Lee said
January 26, 1999
George Evans comments
January 27, 1999
Earthquake - Site Point, Anchorage, Alaska - Friday, March 27, 1964
The skins were gouged open; fins bent in all directions.
Solid propellants cracked and the rocket motor covers were off.
Strong stench from the exposed rocket propellant.
Arming lanyards were pulled, energizing the on-board
battery-operated electrical power systems,
and gyros were spinning. Large components strung across the handling
rails and launchers and on the floor, in all directions. ... "
from Patrick, Arata, graymeme @ comcast . net - December 2013
A little while later, AADCP called back and advised us to expect a 100 foot
tidal wave. As we set right on the bay, that was a little scary. Thankfully it never came.
Due to that fact that our whole complex was housed in a wooden building, altho it moved like
a snake on a hot griddle for several minutes, there was no damage to the building.
I do
remember that our TTR was damaged and the concrete silo that it set on was damaged.
All of our missiles were damaged. The men (boys) that went in to secure the warheads were
true hero's. I am sure that we had more damage than that. I was upstairs when the earthquake
hit and made it out to the hallway where I rode it out on the floor as the building was moving
so much that you could not walk. I was so afraid the building was going to come down on us.
Altho we suffered big after shocks the rest of the night and for days after, we got busy
checking the damage and marking off the danger zones. Those of us that had our families with us,
mine was on Ft Richardson, were assured that they were O.K. I don't remember how long it was
before I saw my family, but I know that it was three or four days. The report that our families
in the lower 48 got was very misleading. My family stated that the report they got said that
Anchorage was burning and that there were thousands dead. We had a MARS station on our site,
so in the next few days we contacted our families that we were O.K.
Now that I am older,
I think back on that incident and am amazed that a bunch of young men, boys really, thousands
of miles from home, in the Alaskan wilderness, quickly recovered, got busy and did what had to
be done to secure our site and get it back into service as quickly as possible. I served in the
Marine Corps and the Army for a total of 26 years. I just wish the people in America truly
realized what our young men and women sometimes go through to protect the way of life we enjoy.
Nike Nuclear Accidents (none)
I have
a list that covers accidents from 1950 to 1980 and there are none involving
NIKEs, but the DOD states that other accidents between 1950 and 1956, and
1968 and 1980 remain classified.
Some additional information has been
released in the interim. For example, my list has an A-4 Skyhawk rolling
off a carrier with a bomb, "more than 500 miles from land". About two years
ago it came out that it was actually about 100 miles from Japan, who are
quite skittish about such things.
The FOIA is a "Freedom of Information
Act" request. It is a way of getting the gov't to release classified info.
Not always successful, but it has been used frequently for historical
research to get the "good" stuff on the Cuban Missile crisis, Nixon,
Johnson, Kissinger, et al. The cool thing is that they can't stall. They
have to respond yes/no in a short (for the gov't) period of time.
Political/financial environment and
Competing Air Defense Systems
Army vs Air Force in air defense
People & organizations (bureaucracies) survive in many ways - one is to get
larger/more-important by getting assigned more important tasks.
An important task is air defense - and its many sub tasks.
Different nations settle the question different ways - and the Greeks
assign the Nike IFC area to its Air Force and the Nike Launcher area to its Army.
from Doyle Piland < dpiland at zianet dot com >
To: Mark Morgan and others - May 28, 2010
Re: Willow, Alaska - Nike Trail
As for the Air Force/Army tug of war, that had been an ongoing battle for several years.
The Air Force took that word "Air" to really mean something. Since missiles flew through the air,
it was only logical that they should belong to the "Air" Force. That applied not only to the Air
Defense missiles, but to longer range surface-to-surface missiles. It seems that the
surface-to-surface dispute was settled early on because the Army had the Redstone, Sergeant, and
both versions of Pershing. I suspect one of the Air Force's concerns with the Air Defense was
the worry that, what many considered a joke, the idea of the Army's method of IFF --
"shoot 'em down and sort 'em out on the ground." However, the Air Force always retained
overarching control of Air Defense.
Anyway, according to the APL documents, the decision on this matter was settled by DoD in 1957,
when the Army was give the responsibility for Air Defense systems up to 100 miles and the Air Force
for those beyond that. Ergo, Land Based Talos was turned over to the Army. We do have some limited
video of the test facility at White Sands still involved in testing with Army personnel. The APL
documents do indicate that the Army abandoned the Land Based Talos shortly after they took over.
If I recall correctly, there were a total of 13 Talos missiles fired by the Land Based test
facility before it was shut down.
Doyle Piland
Bomarc
From Mark L. Morgan,
Co-author of "Rings of Supersonic Steel".
... Anyway, here are the Air Force's BOMARC/TALOS
deployment plans, another indication of how declining budgets forced major
changes in air defense plans during the 50's. I got the material from
several sources (hopefully still in my files), and included it in Nike Quick
Look III, the predecessor to Rings of Supersonic Steel.
1952 - First ADC BOMARC deployment plan, 52 squadrons with up to 128 missiles
each. After the USAF was directed to investigate ground-based TALOS, the plan
was revised down to 40 BOMARC sites with 120 missiles each, and up to 53
TALOS sites. The planned BOMARC bases and operational dates were (date is
IOC by Qtr/FY):
In Sept 56 HQUSAF said 40 squadron/4800 missiles was too much, at approx
$15 billion; ADC said 40 squadrons was the absolute minimum. CONAD was
directed to study, and came back with a Jan 57 proposal for 40 squadrons with
60 missiles each, using cheaper launchers (the Type I was huge, complex, and
gawdawful expensive. I understand a couple are still standing on Santa Rosa
Island). At the end of 1957, ADC requested funding for the first 14 sites.
Jan 58, HQUSAF cut deployment to 31 sites; two with 56 missiles (two
flights), and the others with 28 missiles. Sept 58, the USAF agreed to six
sites with IM-99A, and subsequent ones with IM-99B. Nov 58, revised station
list released:
Plus, two missile sites in Canada. HOWEVER, this was during the big
Nike/BOMARC debate in Congress. Following the Jun 59 release of the Master
Air Defense Plan, the Air Force was allowed 16 sites in ConUS, with two in
Canada for the RCAF. The following were the 18 sites with 56 missiles each
(1,008 total with spares), with IOC dates:
By this time initial site work had begun on the first 14 sites; with the
changes, work was suspended at Ethan Allen and Truax. However, on 23 Mar 60,
HQUSAF cut deployment of the IM-99B to seven sites of 28 missiles each. The
following day, funding was cut from $421.5 million to $40 million, leaving
ADC with eight sites, the two Canadian sites, and suspending work on the
almost completed Paine AFB facility. Adair was suspended with the
foundations and floors in for the missile shelters, and a few support
buildings.
In summary, the original 49-site, 4,800-missile BOMARC system was
ultimately fielded with 10 sites and about 400 missiles.
AF/TALOS - The USAF was assigned responsibility for development of a
land-based variant of the TALOS missile system on 7 Jun 55, primarily for use
as a point-defense missile system (which would allow them to decline Nike
Ajax deployments around SAC bases). The Army had already taken a look at the
missile and decided not to proceed, what with Ajax coming along...
An early USAF plan involved eight squadrons with four detachments each;
consideration was given to deploying 53 squadrons. The first sites were
selected in early 1956: Lockbourne AFB, Peoria, IL, Bunker Hill AFB and
Kirksville AFS. This was revised to Offutt, Barksdale, March and Castle
AFB's in Mar 56. However, as the funds had already been released for site
studies and prep, the latter four sites were instead named sites five through
eight.
In May 1956, ADC TALOS teams were ready to hit the road, but were held up
while Congress and DOD argued over who was going to defend what bases with
which missiles. On 26 Nov 56, SecDef Charles Wilson formally ordered the
assignment of the point-defense mission to ARADCOM, killing the AF/TALOS
program.
BTW, TALOS entered service with the USN in USS Galveston (CLG-3) in May
57. It was finally retired from active service in USS Oklahoma City (CLG-5)
in Dec 79.
Other Nike - The two Nike defenses that were built, manned, but shut down
before attaining operational status were at Walker AFB, NM (6/2d Artillery,
4/60-6/60) and Schilling AFB, KS (5/44th Artillery, 4/60-6/60). Site studies
were performed at Mountain Home AFB, ID, with the battery locations
designated MH-05 and MH-79, but the two sites were never constructed and no
battalion was ever designated for assignment (to the best of my knowledge).
The only other site ever considered for Nike that I've run across to this
point was Malmstrom AFB; it would've been truly unique, as ADC was doing its
BOMARC plans for Malmstrom at the same time. BOMARC was cut back to the ast
coast in 1960 and the JCS killed the Nike site studies on 18 May 60.
Malmstrom, of course, did see initial construction under SENTINEL/SAFEGUARD
about 10 years later.
Phew! Questions? MK.
1 The Army Center for Military History
2 Carlisle Barracks, MILITARY HISTORY INSTITUTE
3 National Archives and Records Administration
4 Rings of Supersonic Steel III
5 US Army Historical Clearinghouse - Anniston Army Depot / Unit Records
Kindest regards,
Charles D. Carter
(Text - local copy)
NIKE BASE DISASTER PROBED.
Middletown, N.J. (AP) -- Investigators searched a Nike base near here today in an effort to learn what caused eight fully armed missiles to blow up in a furious mushroom of fire and death.
A split-second chain reaction turned the entire area into a flaming pit of destruction that one eyewitness called horrible beyond belief.
Mangled bodies and fragments lay strewn about where a moment before men had stood. The disintegration of the victims made it difficult to establish identities of all.
Three others were injured, one seriously.
The dead included six soldiers and four civilians.
Two servicemen in a 20-foot-deep pit under a missile's launching pad miraculously survived the holocaust.
Staff Sgt. JOSEPH W. McKENZIE, 33, a launcher section chief from Framingham, Mass., stepped from the pit unhurt. His partner, Pfc. JOSEPH ABOTT, 24, Grindstone, Pa., was treated for shock and hysteria.
The missiles, known as the Ajax type, exploded at about 1:20 p.m. while a team of experts was working on them. They were to be replaced next year by Hercules missiles capable of carrying atomic warheads.
Each of the Ajax missiles carried three conventional warheads of explosives and shrapnel.
Most of the explosive devices were accounted for, but some had still not been located today.
Duff said ordnance experts had found that all of the eight missiles had left the launching area, flying various distances.
A 12-foot section of one missile landed in a back yard three-quarters of a mile away.
Patrolman Daniel Murdoch, one of the first at the scene, told of "the horror of seeing men, their bodies still afire, and the head of at least one of the men blown away by the force of the explosion."
The Army flew in three inspectors from the office of the chief of ordnance in Washington to investigate the explosion. What set it off may never be known.
Residents of this area had protested in vain against erection of the installation 18 months ago. The Army had told the public no such accident was possible and that the missiles would only be fired in case of war.
Windows were shattered and doors blown in a mile or more from the explosion scene. One woman was blown out of a chair in the living room of her home.
The Ajax, about 32 feet long and a foot in diameter, weighs about a ton and is designed to bring down enemy aircraft at altitudes of up to 60,000 feet. It has a range of 15 miles.
Chester Times Pennsylvania 1958-05-23
Return to beginning of "History"
link to a ?White Sands Test?
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/INST/mar96/obits.html
(Link now dead)(Obituaries, 3rd person in list)
Douglas Aircraft designed and built the missiles,
with a great deal of input from Western Electric (as per cwresearch2@yahoo.com)
Copied from
"A History of Engineering and Science in the Bell System:
National Service in War and Peace (1925-1975)"
"Chapter 7 - Air Defense"
section "1.2 Nike R and D"
A person who wishes to remain anonymous sent the following photographs of a
Nike Ajax test. The frames are taken from a U.S. Army movie - so are "Public Domain"
(and presumably unclassified).
Return to beginning of "history"
The pyramid looks like the major protective building for launches at
what used to be called "White Sands Proving Ground" (modern name is
"White Sands Missile Range") as background for
a Nike Ajax. The final form of the missile and booster
seems resolved. Note the non-smokey flame of the standard Nike booster.
This is the X-Y plotting board, adapted from the M-33 gun AA system,
normally in a vertical position in front of the battery control officer.
The green ink used in the plotting pens was like a stain, and could make
a dreadful mess when reloading the pens.
This unit was driven by the computer.
Another view of the X-Y plotting board, with a view of the Nike computer
DC amplifier bays and the potentiometer bay to the right of the person's
back in the background. To the right of the potentiometer bay is likely
the computer power supply bay. The Nike computer is in its
final form factor - four bays in this pattern.
More detail of the computer - note the two DC amplifier bays with a narrow
?test? bay in between them. The ?test? bay was not in the system
as shipped to the field. The round zero set switches (with the little
windows in a half circle around the center) were not used in this form factor
in Nike Ajax. The production version seemed slightly smaller with a plain center.
The plotting board, (another plotting board "time-to-intercept vs altitude" is not shown),
radar displays, a telephone switch board, various switches such as IFF
and the launch switch, and some acquition radar equipment, ...
would be in the battery control van for field use.
The following is abstracted from section 1.5 "Nike-Hercules":
"...1953 ... As a result of this study, the Army asked Bell Labs to work with
Douglas in exploring the possibility of adding a larger missile capable of
carrying a nuclear warhead and extending the range of the system from 25 to 50
miles. (As it turned out later, the missile developed had a range of 100 miles,
and improvements in the ground equipment alone actually increased the system
range from 25 to 100 miles.)
Return to beginning of "history"
Chicago-Gary Air Defense (45th Brigade) site C-61 at Lemont, Illinois, west of downtown Chicago, was the site of the nation's first nuclear-tipped Hercules installation.
"In February 1957 the Army awarded Western Electric and Bell Laboratories
prime contractor systems responsibility for development of an
AICBM defense system and changed its name from Nike II to Nike-Zeus.
With the growing concern for the ICBM threat, Bell Laboratories was asked by DOD and the
Army to concentrate solely on the ICBM defensive missile
and hence to terminate work on the seeker nose for air-breathing targets. ... One of the
major research and development problems mentioned in AICBM reports to the Army and
Air Force was the task of separating the reentry body from the various decoys and junk
that might
accompany it. ... Note that at this particular time radar measurements of incoming ICBMs
were not available, since the first successful ICBMs were not flown until 1959-1960. ...
Thus, three methods were considered to increase the angular field of radar coverage for
examining the incoming cloud:
(4)
Brian Devine reminds us that we took the
Soviet words and positionings seriously. This was outside of a factory, and removed "recently".
In case folks don't remember, this is an air-raid warning siren.
- About 8,000 U.S. troops "Missing in Action" - mostly killed after capture
"at a temporary site at Fort George G. Meade, MD" (3)
"First operational Ajax was W-13T on the west side of Fort Meade, May 54;
- first operational PERMANENT site, well now, that I haven't found an answer for. MK"
from Mark Morgan November 2002,
co-author "Rings of Supersonic Steel"
-- "each party may have no more than 15 rapid fire launchers"
-- Most Nike launchers in United States disabled - except sites in South Florida
and Alaska, Nike sites shutdown. Some details
(1) from
http://www.oz.net/~chrisp/nike.htm
(2) from
http://michp753.redstone.army.mil/history/firsts/firsts.html
(3) from "Rings of Supersonic Steel"
(4) "What We Have, We Shall Defend: An Interim History and Preservation Plan for
Nike Site SF-88L, Fort Barry, California" by J.A. Martini and S.A. Haller,
National Park Service GGNRA, San Francisco, CA, Feb 1998
External link to NPS,
local copy
(870 kBytes)
Army Reveals Air Defense by Missiles
New Units Will Be Ready Next Year;
Training Under Way
President Asks Billion for Defense
Much home equipment has the potential for hazard - including your automobile or truck,
furnace, water heater, power equipment, electric outlets, and so on!
The above chemicals and their associated hazards were not included in the Nike Hercules model.
The Nike Hercules used a solid fuel sustainer motor and was very boring in comparison.
I was told that there were many incidents where personnel were given medical care and
returned to service quickly with no known serious after effects.
A person at my site, with a reputation for being careful,
was given hospital medical care from a UDMH episode.
He was released a few days later feeling a bit shaken. Several
weeks later he was feeling fine - but I imagine even more careful!
Ft. Mead, Maryland (W-13) April 14, 1955
Middletown, New Jersey (NY-53) May 23, 1958
Okinawa around June or July 1959
McGregor Range - 1960
McGregor Range - 1962 or 3?
1960
1962 or 3?
Korea Fri, 4 Dec 1998
Site Point, Anchorage, Alaska
Friday, March 27, 1964
Ft. Mead, Maryland
For a much more recent (2001) report of the accident, please
click here
or internal copy.
Thanks to Ben Buja for digging out a
Washington Post article and reminding me of the event)
Rogue Nike Missile 'Runs Away,' Explodes in Flight
... a three column photo of soldiers watching people in "fireproof" suits, ...
Ordnance soldiers, some wearing asbestos suits, recover fragments of the exploded
missile
Best I can see it was W-13, on p146 of Rings of SSS. But it was just
temporary and Ft Meade was not a firing battery after that, but was the HQ
of 35th ADA Bde, as well as the BW Defense AADCP. I've seen something about
that incident, somewhere. Said something about the missile going over the BW
Parkway, which is in fact right next to Ft Meade.
There were four serious Nike accidents, that I am aware of during the history
of the system.
A much more serious accident was reported in the press after I left the service.
- also this much shorter report.
Note the "AP WirePhoto" copyright notice
Note the "AP WirePhoto" copyright notice.
Rearranged for easier viewing
"The Nike explosion ... at ... Middletown,
NJ, Nike base during 1958. Technicians were working on the fusing of
warheads for Ajax missiles when an alert was sounded. Accordingly, while
the missiles were being modified, there were another 8 Ajax missiles up
at the surface of the site.
BOMARC Model A used liquid propellant (as did Nike Ajax). BOMARC Model B used solid propellant (as did Nike Hercules).
Subject: Incident at Mc Gregor range
From: < alanndee @ cox . net >
Date: Thu 2/24/2022 6:10 PM
Maj, ret USA
Ed Thelen here, no - haven't heard of this "incident". I left the army in 1957 (Ajax only at the time).
Everything I "know" after that is via documents/reports/questions like this - except SF-88 restoration/presentation.
Your address list is 12 people, and I'm forwarding this to some more people.
Someone might provide further details ??
Subject: McGregor Range Accident
From: < mimipapa66 @ yahoo . com >
Date: Tue, September 26, 2017 9:34 am
To: < ed @ ed-thelen . org >
I was stationed as missile tape analyst for the USARADCOM Service Practice Unit, McGregor Range,
from June 1962 until April 1963....
There were persistent rumors about a horizontal accidental
Nike launch in Okinawa -
Ed, Doyle Piland
asked me to send you what information I have on the
accident that took place with a booster at Site 8 on Okinawa. I don't like
to admit it, but my memory is not as good as it once was. I don't remember
when it happened. And I didn't witness the actual accident. But I will
relate to you what I can remember of the event, and maybe someone else can
fill in the blank spots.
Ed and Don[Bender]:
Doyle Piland
OKINAWA 1959
Nike Hercules Accident at Site 8 (Naha Air Base)
Ed:
I arrived at the Naha site 18 January 1960. The incident was still very much
under discussion, and as I recall it occurred around June or July 1959.
Carl Durling
from http://english.ryukyushimpo.jp/2017/11/01/27963/
Former US soldier details account of 1959 Naha accidental nuke firing fatal to fellow soldiers
October 26, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo
The squib connection that went from the launcher to the booster igniters went
through 4 PETN cords, one for each igniter.
These cords were highly ignitable and had a drop point of 6 inches which
means they would explode when dropped that far.
I told the corporal in charge not to plug in the squib. but he ignored me and
decided to do it anyway. I was on the maintenance crew and was only on the launch crew
that day because they were shorthanded.
>> I believe that this incident doesn't even appear on the Broken Arrow list of accidents involving nuclear weapons. I believe such appearance on the list doesn't have to include detonation or radioactive material release, just an accident involving a nuclear weapon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_nuclear_incident_terminology
https://www.atomicarchive.com/almanac/broken-arrows/index.html#1950
even though several people have mentioned that the missile had a nuclear warhead -
was so sensitive to "small" bad ground voltages/currents.
The fact that a special meter was used to check what might go
to the booster igniter indicates to me that the Army was worried.
There was at least one non-nuclear "incident" in Korea blamed on
bad grounding, and I understand some "Engineering Change Orders"
to correct the above. Aging cables have also been blamed.
I have no idea what voltage would cause ignition
or what voltage was applied to intentionally fire a booster.
And (Fri, 4 Dec 1998)
Herc launch. J.P. Moore
and Pete Simpson
forward
This is on the news wire this AM:
After extensive study, Ministry of Defense said they found an outdated
cable between laucher and control tower(or room), which was installed
underneath of the ground. And that was a sole reason behind the unwanted
launch.
Sorry to hear the Koreans are having problems.
I was the Battalion Cmdr of that Bn when we turned it over to the Koreans in
1976. It doesn't surprise me that a cable was bad. That equipment has been
there since somewhere around 1960 and I am sure that some of the cables are
rotten if they have not been replaced.
from
http://www.usarak.army.mil/conservation/Nike%20Operations%20in%20Alaska/Chapter%206.pdf
- about 2/3 of the way down
We went inside the first launcher section of the fire unit on “hot status” after prying open
the blast doors. It was a big mess. No complete missile round was intact on the tracked
launchers or handling rails. All the yoke structures had been sheared.
I was crew chief (E-5) on duty in the IFC area when the earthquake occurred. I don't remember
what our status was, but I do remember calling our AADCP that we were out of action due to severe
damage to our tracking system, I didn't know the status of the missiles at that time, power out,
antennas damaged.
*My Opinion* On a per hour basis, I suggest that people were safer
working on Nike missiles than driving on the public roads
(except when doing field modifications with civilians).
I also suggest that this very low level of accidents
was no accident, but the result of very determined enforcement of safe
practices (and a high level of awareness by the troops that the situations
were full of serious hazard).
Kurt Laughlin writes
"Broken Arrow" is the DOD code name for a nuclear weapons accident.
I would doubt that the Army was considering deploying Nike Ajax in Alaska in the 1955 time frame.
From John Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) documents, it seems that the
Air Force began the Land Based Talos system with a contract to RCA in about 1953, which was
about the time the Army started Bell/Western working on the Hercules. It seems from what I
can gather, both these systems proceeded to develop about equally. The Air Force built a
test facility just to the west of the Navy launch area at White Sands with the prototype system
there. Both the land based Talos and the Nike Hercules began test firings in 1955. So, it would
seem unlikely that there would have been considerations by the respective branches of deploying
Talos and Ajax. Possibly Talos and Hercules. However, having spent a total of over 22 years
associated in one way or another with the Army Air Defense and more years as an Army Civilian,
anything they did wouldn't really surprise me.
Subject: BOMARC/TALOS Planned Deployment
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1999 14:22:22 EDT
From: rangermk@sbcglobal.net (Mark L. Morgan)
1. McGuire AFB 1/60 21. Grand Forks 2/62
2. Suffolk County AFB 2/60 22. Cut Bank AFS 3/62
3. Otis AFB 3/60 23. Opheim AFS 3/62
4. Dow AFB 4/60 24. Minot 3/62
5. Niagara Falls AB 1/61 25. Klamath Falls 4/62
6. Plattsburgh AFB 1/61 26. Geiger Field 4/62
7. Kinross AFB 2/61 27. McConnell AFB 4/62
8. KI Sawyer Airport 2/61 28. Ardmore AFB 1/63
9. Langley AFB 3/61 29. Amarillo AFB 1/63
10. Truax Field 3/61 30. Reese AFB 1/63
11. Paine AFB 3/61 31. Biggs AFB 2/63
12. Portland AB 3/61 32. Laughlin AFB 2/63
13. Hamilton AFB 4/61 33. Williams AFB 2/63
14. Oxnard AFB 4/61 34. Ellington AFB 2/63
15. San Diego 4/61 35. New Orleans 3/63
16. Fort Ord 1/62 36. Fort Campbell 3/63
17. Bunker Hill AFB 1/62 37. Pinecastle AFB 4/63
18. Greater Pittsburgh AP 1/62 38. Tyndall AFB 4/63
19. Duluth AP 2/62 39. Charleston AFB 4/63
20. Sioux City AP 2/62 40. Seymour Johnson AFB 4/63
1. McGuire AFB 16. Malmstrom AFB
2. Suffolk County AFB 17. Grand Forks AFB
3. Otis AFB 18. Minot AFB
4. Dow AFB 19. Youngstown, OH
5. Langley AFB 20. Seymour Johnson AFB
6. Truax Field 21. Bunker Hill AFB
7. Kinross AFB 22. Sioux Falls AB
8. Duluth AB 23. Charleston AFB
9. Ethan Allen AFB 24. McConnell AFB
10. Niagara Falls AB 25. Holloman AFB
11. Paine AFB 26. McCoy AFB
12. Camp Adair 27. Amarillo AFB
13. Travis AFB 28. Barksdale AFB
14. Vandenberg AFB 29. Williams AFB
15. San Diego
1. McGuire AFB 9/59 10. Adair AFS 8/61
2. Suffolk County AFB 12/59 11. Travis AFB 9/61
3. Otis AFB 3/60 12. Vandenberg AFB 10/61
4. Dow AFB 6/60 13. Malmstrom AFB 1/62
5. Langley AFB 9/60 14. Glasgow AFB 4/61
6. Kinross AFB 3/61 15. Minot AFB 6/61
7. Duluth AB 4/61 16. Charleston AFB 7/62
8. Niagara Falls AB 5/61 17. La Macaza, PQ 2/62 RCAF
9. Paine AFB 7/61 18. North Ban, ON 3/62 RCAF
...
All CONUS Nike-Hercules batteries, with the exception of the ones in Florida and Alaska, were deactivated by April 1974. The remaining units were deactivated during the spring of 1979. Dismantling of the sites in Florida - Alpha Battery in Everglades National Park, Bravo Battery in Key Largo, Charlie Battery in Carol City and Delta Battery, located on Krome Avenue on the outskirts of Miami - started in June 1979 and was completed by early fall of that year.1,2,3,4,5
Nike Historian
cdc112745@gmail.com
http://nikemissile.org/ColdWar/CharlesCarter/CubanCrisis.shtml
10 KILLED IN VIOLENT EXPLOSION.
The explosion yesterday killed 10 persons and scattered explosive warheads across a wide area of the countryside.
The disaster, described by a general as an accident that could not happen but did, was set off by a single missile that exploded.
Military Victims:
Sgt. DANIEL J. LAVENGOOD.
Sgt. JEROME W. MOULD.
SP3 WALTER E. BERRY.
SP3 WILLIAM I. COCHRAN.
PFC DONALD L. MARSH.
Pvt. NICKLOS J. COMPOSINO.
Civil Corps Civilian Victims:
JOSEPH ARCIERE.
JOSEPH F. BROKOS.
LEE A. PARKER.
CHARLES ROMANOW.
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Updated Feb 25, 2022
