Just a Minute

"So, to conclude our tour, do you think the Minuteman served its purpose?" asked Ranger guide Meaghan. as we left the missile enclosure at the Minuteman National Historic Site in South Dakota.
"Of course," I answered.
Another of the 21 tourists on the tour of Delta Site agreed. "Didn't you tell us it was MDS?" he asked. "If MDS means Missile Deterrent System and the Russians never fired on us in the 30 years of the Cold War, then our missiles served their purpose."
Dismantled in the early 1990's, the Minuteman was the first solid fuel missile, and it could be launched in less than five minutes. Two warheads had 90 megatons of explosives, or more than all the firepower exploded in World War II, including the two atomic bombs. And South Dakota alone housed 150 missiles.
The tour was fascinating, and guides Meaghan and Jack, knowledgeable and interesting. I almost didn't get to go, with an established limit of 18 and only one slot available. But the last minute Ranger Jack agreed to squeeze an extra adult tourist in each small elevator group.
Down, down, down we rode into the isolation chamber that served as the Minuteer Control Room. There for 30 years Air Force personnel would be sealed in for a 24-hour shift. Some of the Minuteers at Delta Site even decorated the lead door in red, white and blue. And Delta Site, one of five in South Dakota, was replicated in six other states.
Suddenly I felt safe.
"This was part of our history for 30 years," said Andy, "and almost no one even knows it was going on."