The National Park Service and the newly founded Nike Site NY-56 Volunteers Association are sponsoring Cold War Day at Sandy Hook on Sunday, Sept. 18.
Cold War Day will begin at 10 a.m. at Guardian Park in Fort Hancock with a flagraising ceremony, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony honoring 10Army and civilian personnel who lost their lives in the tragic 1958 Nike Missile Site explosion in Middletown. After the wreath-laying ceremony, Dr. George Reklaitis, chairman of the Department of History at Brookdale Community College, will present a discussion about the ColdWar era.
From noon to 4 p.m. the Fort Hancock Nike Missile Radar Integrated Fire Control (IFC) Area at Horseshoe Cove and the Nike Missile LauncherArea (LA), located north of the Sandy Hook Ranger Station, will both be open for tours conducted by Nike Veterans and Park Rangers. The Fort Hancock missile and radar sites were designated NY-56 and were one of over 20 such sites located in the NewYork-New Jersey metropolitan area that defended against possible Soviet Union nuclear bomber attack from 1954 until 1974.
At the once highly restricted Nike Radar IFC Area (Parking Area L), visitors will be able to see how supersonic, nuclear-armed Nike Hercules missiles were controlled and guided by Army soldiers using radar and computers. At the Nike Missile Launcher Area (ParkingArea N), visitors will see both a NikeAjax missile and a Nike Hercules missile, and can tour the grounds with a park ranger to see where the missiles were stored underground and where they were maintained and armed under extremely tight security.
Members of the public, and especially veterans, are welcome to attend.
Tours of the Fort Hancock Nike Site Integrated Fire Control will also be conducted on Saturday, Sept. 17.
To learn more information about the Fort Hancock Nike Site NY-56 Volunteers Association visit the website, http://ny56nike.weebly.com/.