Cold War Oklahoma

By Landry Brewer

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1467142255
• ISBN13: 9781467142250
• Release Date: April 2019
• Publisher: History Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.9" x 8.9"