[Leica] RETROSPECT 15

[Bill Clough]

Hi there –


The Strategic Air Command maintained a base in Amarillo, Texas. The paper
devoted an entire issue to the base operations, which included my taking a
10-hour training mission in a B-52.


In the same year of the special issue, Texas Panhandle voters chose
Goldwater over LBJ. Johnson immediately closed the SAC base in retaliation.
It took a number of years for Amarillo to recover from the economic hit.


Until the new airport at Denver opened, Amarillo – thanks to the SAC base –
had the second-longest runway in the United States.


Remnants of the base remain, including a small frame house about
half-a-mile away used to de-arm the nuclear weapons removed from planes
rotating off the alert pad.


http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Bill1941/RETROSPECT/Plotting_+Amarillo+SAC+Base_+1964+___+00322.jpg.html


–Bill