![]() ![]() The Nike program was developed as another way for Americans to feel protected. “Over and over again we played these war games in the Pentagon and the outcome of using some nuclear missiles ended up in using them all and blowing up everybody,” he said. When the military tried to strategize using war games, the threat of nuclear weapons seemed very plausible. Families built underground shelters with thick concrete walls that they could hide in. ![]() Or at least to feel like they were protecting themselves. In case of a nuclear attack, school kids learned to duck and cover under their desks. And so Americans were taking measures to protect themselves. Small said that in the 1950s an attack felt imminent. All of Eastern Europe fell behind the Iron Curtain.” ![]() China, our ally in World War II, went communist. “And this enemy had the atomic bomb by 1949 – which many people said they stole from us through spies all over the place. “After the end of World War II, in a couple of years we had a new enemy,” said Melvin Small, a Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus from Wayne State University. It was birthed during the 1940s, an era of deep national anxiety, and it brought about the country’s first anti-aircraft missile system. military began its own project named after the Greek goddess of victory. More than a decade before athletes in Oregon started wearing new-fangled running shoes with a “swoosh” on them, the U.S. Project Nike – Feeling Safe in a Time of National Fear Map created using information compiled and organized by Tom Bateman. You can view the locations of the different sites in the accompanying map. Most of them have been completely demolished by now. We have not been able to find evidence of a Nike base around Six Mile Road and Wyoming Avenue, but Detroit and the surrounding area housed more than a dozen bases. So, am I crazy? | Steven Gold The Short Answer ![]() I mean there’s no sign that there were ever missiles located actually in Detroit. I’ve looked and there’s nothing there now. When I was a young kid my parents would take me to a doctor’s appointment in Detroit somewhere around the 6 mile and Wyoming area, and I could swear that I saw a nike missile base. Click on the audio player above or use this link to hear the audio story. For this edition of CuriosiD, we tackle a question from Steven Gold. ![]()
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