For forty years they kept the Cold War from becoming hot: Americans in missile silos and Berlin checkpoints, remote B-52 bomber bases and storm tossed Navy picket ships, all part of the Cold War conflict that was always a trigger away from global nuclear destruction. They never received a parade for their courage or professionalism, or even a public word of thanks. Until now.
On Friday, May 27, 2022 at 11:30 a.m. at the Museum of American Armor, 1303 Round Swamp Road, Old Bethpage, Richard Nicolello, Presiding Office of the Nassau Legislature dedicated two Nike missiles similar to those that defended New York from Soviet bombers, to all the Americans who served during the Cold War.
Legislator Nicolello stated, “Each American generation has faced dangerous threats to our nation’s future. Some events, such as Pearl Harbor, were immediately recognized as defining moments. The four decades of the Cold War did not produce such an event. There were no victory day parades. There was no opportunity to say thank you to those who stood vigil on behalf of freedom. We intend to remedy that omission with this ceremony.”
The Armor Museum’s founder and president, Lawrence Kadish, said, “Most Americans do not understand the role these veterans played in being part of the last line of defense during the forty years of ideological conflict between Democracy and Communism. Our effort addresses the need to pay tribute to them, and our need to better understand our history.”
Armor Museum senior trustee Michael Sapraicone explained, “Few New Yorkers remember that they were on the front line throughout the Cold War. Soviet submarines sat off shore, within easy missile range during the Cuban missile crisis. Nuclear tipped Nikes at Rocky Point were poised to detonate in the air to bring down Russian Bear bombers. Interceptor fighters sat in Westhampton and New Jersey, always minutes away from `scramble.’ In short, we were an armed camp, and very few of us knew it then or recall it now.”
