Cold War Oklahoma

Oklahoma might seem like an unexpected place for Cold War tensions to boil over, but the state played a key role in a conflict that threatened global annihilation. Altus Air Force Base served as a hub for twelve intercontinental ballistic missile launch sites; in 1964, a missile housed at the Frederick site exploded, although the nuclear warhead remained unaffected. Ordinary citizens lived under the shadow of nuclear war as well. A former OU faculty member accused of committing espionage for the Soviet Union fled the country, while a SWOSU professor dug his own fallout shelter in Weatherford--by hand. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, an emergency siren malfunction sent terrified Elk City parents scurrying to local schools to pick up their children. Landry Brewer presents a fascinating cross-section of the era, from top-level strategy to the details of daily life.

• | Author: Landry Brewer
• | Publisher: The History Press
• | Publication Date: Apr 29, 2019
• | Number of Pages: 144 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 1467142255
• | ISBN-13: 9781467142250