The Cold War
Gallery 6
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Among Major Eichmann's artifacts was this desk ornament Torii gate with the squadron insignia of the 56th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron; a matching piece has the Strategic Air Command shield as the center piece. A torii is a traditional Japanese gate commonly found at the entry to a Shinto shrines. The origin of the torii is said to come from an old Japanese legend, when the sun goddess became extremely annoyed with her prankster brother. She hid herself in a cave and sealed the entrance with a rock, causing an eclipse. The people were afraid that if the sun never returned, they all would die. So, on the advice of a wise old man, they built a large bird perch out of wood and placed all the town's roosters on this perch; they all started to crow noisily, causing the curious sun goddess to peek out of her cave. Having opened the door a crack, a large sumo wrestler from the town ran up and pushed the rock away, letting the sun out and thus the world was saved. That bird perch was the first torii gate. From then on, the torii became a symbol of prosperity and good fortune, and spread all over Japan. |
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This flight schedule is for a "STORK Juliet" mission; STORK missions were a series of flights or "tracks" flown to gather weather data across the northern Pacific area between Alaska, Hawaii and the west coast of the United States. While the "public" mission was that of weather reconnaissance, there was also a "covert" mission: atmospheric sampling for radiation debris. Each aircraft was fitted with air sampling scoops, called "bug catchers". The first sampling scoops were fitted beneath the wings; later they were installed below the aircraft fuselage; the final version, which was also used on the WB-50, had the "bug catcher" mounted where the aft upper turret had been. These scoops had paper or cloth filters within which collected particulate matter from the airstream passing through. Filters were changed at regular intervals throughout the mission, and were analyzed for radioactive debris on the ground after the flight. In May 1949, the Air Weather Service established a "routine" daily weather reconnaissance track from Eielson AFB, Alaska, to Yokota AB, Japan with a reverse track flown the following day. While these missions did collect weather data, the real reason for these flights was to sample for radioactive debris. It was known that the Russians were feverishly at work on their first atomic weapon and it was imperative that the western Allies find out about it as soon as possible. On 03 September 1949, a routine return track from Yokota to Eielson revealed an unusually large amount of radiation. Modified RB-29s chased the radioactive cloud across Canada and into the United Kingdom and later detailed analysis proved that the captured air samples were from an atomic weapon. Later that same month, President Truman announced to the world that the Soviet Union was now an atomic power. |
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During the Cold War, Air Force missileers could be identified by their silver missile badges, nicknamed "pocket rockets" and worn on the left pocket. When the badge was first authorized in 1958, anyone directly associated with guided missiles for three months or longer was authorized to wear it. In 1963, two variations were added: Senior missileers got a star atop the badge and master missileers got a wreath around the star. The award criteria have changed over the years and in 1988, to distinguish combat crews from those that performed other duties, an "operational designator" was added - a wreath design on either side of the badge. With the Cold War over, the number of missileers began to decline, and in 2004 a new "Space Cadre Badge" was instituted for both space and missile operators; the pocket rocket will continue to be worn by missile maintenance personnel. |
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This uniform was worn by a Sergeant in the 502nd Infantry Regiment of the Berlin Brigade at the time the Berlin Wall fell. The Berlin Brigade was formed at the height of the Berlin Wall crisis from units already in Berlin by the Commander-in-Chief, United States Army, Europe. General Bruce Clarke ordered that from 1 December 1961 the core of the United States military presence in Berlin, the living symbol of America's protection for the people of free Berlin, would be known as the United States Army Berlin Brigade. Throughout the Cold War, three infantry battalions made up the core of the Brigade, supported by a tank company, an artillery battery, and an engineer company organized since 1980 in a Combat Support Battalion. |
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The Army of Occupation Medal was originally established by War Department General Orders Number 32 in 1946, and was awarded for 30 days consecutive service in Germany, Austria and Japan. The medal was also awarded for service in Berlin between 9 May 1945 and 3 October 1990 - the day Germany was reunified. The ribbon consists of equal portion of red and black with white edge stripes. The colors were taken from the American Campaign Medal, where they appeared as pinstripes inside each edge. The red and white represent Japan and the black and white represent Germany, the primary opponents of the United States during World War II and the primary countries occupied after the war. |
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This uniform was worn by a member of the 56th Field Artillery Brigade, the only PERSHING missile brigade deployed in Europe (or any where else) during the Cold War. The brigade was composed of three PERSHING missile firing battalions, one infantry battalion, a chemical decontamination detachment, a maintenance battalion with an aviation company, and the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery. With more than 5,000 soldiers assigned, the 56th was stationed on eight kasernes, or posts, and three remote firing sites in southern Germany. The US Army began a study of solid fuel missiles in 1956; in 1958 the program was officially named "PERSHING". The PERSHING was designed as a two-stage solid-fueled rocket with an all-inertial guidance system to be fired from a mobile launcher, and could carry a 400 kilo-ton W-50 thermonuclear warhead to a maximum range of 740 km (460 miles). The first PERSHING units deployed to West Germany in 1964, and NATO ministers formally approved the basing of the PERSHING II missile system in Western Europe in December 1979. The initial operational capability for the PERSHING II was achieved when the 56th Field Artillery Brigade received its equipment on 15 December 1983, and deployment of the first PERSHING II battalion was completed in Europe in June 1984. On 13 December 1985 the PERSHING II weapon system successfully achieved full operational capability. The increased range and pinpoint accuracy of the PERSHING II were major factors that influenced the Soviet Union's decision to seek the Treaty on Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces in which the United States and the USSR agreed to eliminate an entire class of nuclear missiles. In accordance with INF Treaty provisions, all of the PERSHING II missile stages, launchers, trainers, and deployed reentry vehicles were eliminated by May 31, 1991, after which the 56th Field Artillery Command (PERSHING) deactivated. |
