Political Comments in Denmark #2of2

While we were visiting in a Flea Market in Denmark we came across a “peace-booth.” They said they were against only US missiles, and said they knew nothing about the Soviet military, so couldn’t have any comment about the Soviets. I reminded them that Hitler captured Denmark in a day or two when WWII started, and if their opinion was representative of most Danes, it would require only a phone call from the Kremlin to Copenhagen, to accomplish the same thing, if a war was started by the Soviets.

They complained that there are enough nuclear bombs to wipe out all the people in the world, 10 times over. I said that while that might be true, most missiles and bombs would not find their target. In WW II there were many more bullets, bombs, and shells fired by all the armies, then there were people in the world, but 99.9% never struck anyone, or anything of value.

I told these Danish young people that the missiles they were worried about might not be all that much value in a war. I reminded them that at Cape Canaveral, Florida, where they spend billions of dollars trying to launch up-to-date rockets and rocket systems that are checked and rechecked micro-second by micro-second, they still have great problems getting them off the ground. When they do launch, often the mission is not successful.

I asked, “What do you think will happen with the missiles that have been in underground silos in North Dakota and Wyoming for years and years? There may be mice feeding on the wires, and building nests in the control units. Why do you think they are located in the most desolate, least populated area in the US? If they do launch, more missiles might fall in Montana and Canada then in the Soviet Union. And how many Soviet missiles do you think will misfire and fall on Denmark?”

I told them I had been very involved with missiles, rocket engines, and the computers that were used to control the launch and flight of missiles, so I know at least a little about the missile business. Forty years ago when we launched the men to the moon, I wrote the computer manuals, and conducted the training course for NASA computer programmers, for the Saturn, and Atlantic Missile Range computers.

We have no idea if we changed any minds, and it was impossible to determine why they thought like they did. They knew little or nothing about our country, and had nothing good to say about the USA. I don't think they knew why, but they hated the USA. They knew even less about the Soviet Union, but said they did not hate that country. Who knows!