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Joe's Place

My Nike Missile Base Has Missiles, yes it does.

It's the only base left in North America that still has missiles in it.
Of course, let's be clear here, they don't have fuel, warheads, or anything else!
They're there for historical purposes.

Back in the cold war, we had this 'Ring-of-Steel' around all our major cities. 
It consisted of these Nike Missiles.
They ringed the cities and were set to go on a moments notice. 
They were designed to go up and blow up right in front of the, (hypothetical,) incoming Russian jets, thereby giving them a cloud of shrapnel for their jet intakes.
This does wonders for your flying ability.

They came in four sizes, three of which were nukes.
I had driven by this base previously on trips through the Marin Headlands, (a great place to visit!)
Then, I heard it was going to be open, with docent-led tours and talks.
The docents were pretty much all vets that had worked here during the war and boy, did they have some cool stories.
They even took us down into the 'magazines' with the missiles and showed us that 6-year-olds could move the missiles by hand.
You'll see some of that, and lots more, in the video here.
Personally, I think it's a pretty good video, even if I did make, (and STAR in it,)  it myself.

One guy actually met his counterpart from Russia, after the war!
That story is included in the video, too!
You'll love it!

Meantime, here are some pics to enjoy.   
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"My Nike Base Has Missiles."
                            The video.

When I first started to post my Nike Missile Base video, I saw all these others.
I looked at a bunch and they all had, closed bases; bases that were sealed up, or turned into hostel's, or just grown over .
None of them had missiles!
That's when I remade my video to show the missiles, since it's such an important part of our cold-war history, (which is also exactly the reason this one has missiles.)

More pics below the video:
Down in the magazine with the missiles.
(A magazine held six missiles, just like an old gun held six shots, or so we were told.)
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This is one of the radar stations that were associated with these sites.
The other fortifications around the Marin Headlands, encircle and encapsulate this base.
They protect the entrance to SF Bay, but they guard the sea.
These guard the air.

If you haven't done the Marin Headlands trip yet, check my pics.
It's a nice little Day-trip. 
(In fact, here's one I did with Bill, this homeless buddy of mine who wrote the music associated with many of my videos.)
I also think they do these docent trips frequently, so check with Golden Gate Recreational Area for more immediate details.
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One of the other fortifications
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