There are many recorded and written accountings documenting how the Crisis was played-out at the diplomatic level. However, few were ever chronicled concerning how this moment in history was experienced by those who were poised to carry out the final execution orders in the event diplomacy failed. I was an Atlas-ICBM Launch Control Officer on duty throughout the crisis [Launch Crew 15, 389th Strategic Missile Wing (ICBM-Atlas) SAC, Francis E. Warren AFB, Cheyenne, Wyoming]. These few lines of verse describe the events and atmosphere that prevailed at the missile sites during this critical period of our history. They reflect the attitudes and thoughts of the men who waited for the order they hoped would never come.
“Two Messages to Armageddon”, was published in Voyage 40 (USNA Class of 1958 40th Reunion Yearbook) and dedicated to those brave men of the Strategic Air Command and those on the Navy ships at sea who stood duty during those perilous days in October, 1962. It is posted here as a 50th year remembrance that the Crisis ended in a triumph for humanity over what surely would have been a tragic nuclear holocaust, ending life as we know it on the planet
Two Messages To Armageddon
Came the warble from command headquarters.
“Copy this message, it’s your new orders.”
They expeditiously took DEFCON 2.
Two more moves like that and the world is through:
One to erect the birds and load the fuel;
Another, for the human race too cruel.As the relief crew, we took their places.
One could see fear building in our faces.
I told my men it was another day,
“Go about your duties the normal way.”
Never mind the consequence of our task,
Too late to stand around and questions ask.
We were airmen trained to execute,
When called upon with brave resolute.We heard the events at sea taking place,
As ships approached and came face to face.
Just before everyone was surely to burn,
The Empire buckled and started to turn.
A cheer went through our chamber as a roar,
Like I’ve never heard since or before.
We would not be part of the Earth’s demise.
Which I would have joined, not being wise.
I asked, “God, could life have ended then?”
He answered, “Indeed, it would have been.”