S.L. Sanger

IN 1988, THE PROGRESSIVE FOUNDATION, INC., with Nukewatch, published an unusual 96-page book Nuclear Heartland, a mostly volunteer effort, which mapped all 1,000 missile silo sites in the United States. This Minuteman total in later years declined to 450 due to arms control agreements and other considerations.

 

Since 1988, three missile command sites were closed -- in Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota. Other bases, Malmstrom in Montana and F.E. Warren in Wyoming each lost a missile squadron. The very few Heartland copies still available have price tags of $75 up to almost $250. Anyone interested who wants to wait until early in 2015 should be able to buy an updated version. Nukewatch, a peace action group dedicated to the abolition of nuclear weapons and related issues, is working on publishing a revised book. Old or new, though, the book is a sobering look at America's continuing and often baffling emphasis on nuclear weapons. Chilling, too, when a Minuteman launch site is seen close up.