The Secret Cold War Mission That Continues To Threaten Lives Today
For the second half of the 20th century, the world's fate hung in the balance as the United States and the Soviet Union, the two toughest superpowers, were at odds with one another. As both nations competed in an array of areas, some of their feuds presented a greater danger to their citizens than others. In fact, one of the most nail-biting missions carried out during the Cold War still poses a threat to millions of people to this day.
Danger Beneath The Snow
On a frosty morning in May 1959, two U.S. Army officers, Col. John Kerkering and Capt. Thomas Evans, found themselves wading through the heavy snow of frosty Greenland. They were taking measurements for a new underground military installation that could potentially make all the difference should the US and USSR engage in an all-out war.
Putting On A Front
In the public eye. America's construction project seemed perfectly innocent. After all, the government struck a deal with Denmark in 1960 to begin building the underground facility in Greenland. According to the Pentagon, the facility would be used to test various construction methods in Arctic environments, support scientific research, and develop a semi-mobile nuclear reactor for power. But what was the truth?
Camp Century
As it turned out, the nuclear-powered Arctic research center in northwestern Greenland was nothing more than a front. America intended to build Camp Century — a secret network of tunnels and missile silos designed to store weaponry in the event that the Cold War escalated to a hot one. How long could they continue to hold on to this secret?
Mindgames
With the 1960s fast approaching, tensions between the US and the USSR reached a boiling point. As both sides continued to come up with new schemes to strike fear into the other, the United States believed that Camp Century could provide them with a serious advantage — namely, the ability to shuffle 600 nuclear-tipped “Iceman” missiles between 2,100 silos.
