Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

This past summer I have been working as a Park Ranger out at Minuteman Missile NHS, the only National Park Service location that deals with the Cold War. This location is in the middle of nowhere in South Dakota, well there wasn't that many people here during the Cold War either.

Delta-09 Missile Silo

The Delta-09 Missile silo is just one of the many locations throughout South Dakota that once housed a Minuteman Missile.

The Delta-01 Launch Control Center is where the Minuteman II missiles would have been launched from. This location controlled 10 missiles each containing a 1.2 Megaton Warhead on them. The Launch Control Center was guarded by an 8 Ton blast door that was supposed to be closed at all times.



Pizza Anyone?



Just behind that door lies the LCC which once housed two missileers that could have launched the nuclear missile with the turn of key.

Commanders Console

 These two consoles where twelve feet apart so no one person could turn the key to launch the missiles.

Deputy Commander's Key Turn

If anybody is headed to South Dakota, shame on you for not visiting while I was here but stop at Exit 131 off I-90 for the Visitor Center and tour tickets for the LCF and LCC given out on a first come first served basis. The missile silo is out at exit 116 and is a self-guided tour. Check out the website at www.nps.gov/mimi and make sure to take a look at the podcasts that I worked on this summer.

With the International Relations degree working at a site that was a major part of the Cold War has been interesting. I have learned so much about those who guarded and protected the United States by staffing the Launch Control Facilities (LCF) and Launch Control Centers (LCC). These sites were supposed to provide a deterrent against the Soviet Union from ever attacking with a nuclear missile because they knew that they would be destroyed as well, mutual assured destruction (MAD).

I have learned a lot this summer about myself and growing as a Park Ranger. While I don't know what will happen over the next couple of months or even next summer this summer working here at Minuteman Missile NHS had been a great experience.

Dublin

The past few days I have been exploring Dublin. Overall it is a nice city though there are a lot of people here right now and it really gets worse in the evenings when everyone is off work. I took the free walking tour of Dublin the other day and then afterwords I went and saw the Book of Kells and the Old Library.

I really enjoyed the Old Library there was so many books there. It is just walls and walls of books some I am sure could be quite interesting if they would only let me read them. In the library there was an exhibition on medicine and how people thought things where caused and what would treat them. This was also quite neat and the artifacts that they had on display I felt were informative.

Molly Malone or the Tart with the Cart as the Dubliniers call her

I also went to the Museum of Archaeology and got to see "bog man". These were people who were most likely sacrificed to insure a kings rein, or so they say. They were placed into the bogs throughout Ireland and due to the make up of the bogs this allowed for in many cases very good preservation of the bodies and goods around them. The displays they had here were thought provoking about the ancient cultures.

In another area of the museum they had some Viking relics. Many of them came from Dublin itself. This was because in the 80's when a building was being built they found an almost intact settlement along the river. They took what they could but something happened and the site was not preserved and now a council building sits above where the Viking once were, destroying any remaining evidence and information about the site.

While walking around Dublin there are lots of statues and some are of people but some are memorials to those who died throughout Ireland's past. One of these is a famine memorial down near the river, right next to the replica of a coffin ship the Jeanie Johnson. This ship was the only one not to lose any passengers on the way over.

I have enjoyed my stay here in Dublin and I plan on walking around some more and trying to see some areas that are more Irish on my last day in Ireland tomorrow, that way I can have a nice relaxing day before my trip home.

Jeanie Johnston

4 Days Left :(

Only four days left before my trip to Europe ends. I have had fun the in the past weeks and I have enjoyed my time here in Ireland and the UK. I have met lovely people and have learned that I do not like the the fact that many sites do not have any one to ask questions of or any real information about the site. At others I have to buy a book to learn anything about the site and there are very few guided tours of sites and the ones that have guided tours are quite large and it is hard to hear anything.

But since I only have a few days left I am off to explore Dublin and make the most of my last few days overseas.

Galway to Cork to Ring of Kerry to Dublin

 From the city of Galway the travels continued down the west cost of Ireland stopping by Dingle and then on to Cork. There were stops along the way at some abbeys, landscapes that are called lunar landscapes, and the Cliffs of Moher. There have been some issues with the trips and some places being over booked so we stopped early at Blarney Castle. The gardens in the castle were very nice, I enjoyed the rock close there were way to many people in the castle itself.

Blarney Castle

After leaving Blarney we headed to the Ring of Kerry and Killarney. There was plenty of rugged coastline along the way with a stop in the National Park for a quick walk up to a waterfall.

Over the course of the tour I met some really cool people. I have enjoyed getting to know them and I wish them all the best on there travels.

Shona, Me, Sam, and Amy After the tour in Dublin

Travels Through Ireland Continued

After a few nights in Derry (LondonDerry) we went to Glenveagh National Park where a castle was built next to a lake and the guy who built the castle displaced tenants so that he could have his hunting lodge. We also stayed in the town where the John Wayne movie The Quiet Man was filmed. I have also seen several monasteries and abbey ruins as well as St. Patrick's hill a sacred mountain here in Ireland, didn't make it all the way up due to time constraints. There have been old stone forts and ruins from past civilizations. At one point we stopped near a town that had a castle that was turned into a hotel, the going rate of which is apparently 700 Euro a night! Overall the past few days I have gotten to see things that I would not have gotten to see had I been travelling by myself. I have also gotten a nice dose of history from the bus driver/guide as well. The people I have been travelling with have been fun to hang out with and they are all nice.

10 Day all Ireland Tour

I have started a 10 day all Ireland tour. I got tired of planning my trip and not really meeting people that I could hang out with several days in a row. The first day we travelled up to Belfast and saw some interesting sights along the way. While in Belfast I did a Black Taxi Tour that was something to hear about the troubles which are recent and ongoing.

One of the stops that we did was the ruins of a monastery. At there monastery there was some information about what the designs on the Celtic Crosses mean.

Today we travelled along the north coast of Northern Ireland and I visited Giants Causeway I got to see some new things that I had not previously seen.

I have made several new friends this trip and so far I have been having a blast.

New Friends at Giants Causeway

Tramore

This weekend was spent down by the beach. It was nice and warm, at least when the sun was shining and I was on the other side of the dune from the wind. I had some pretty nice weather and enjoyed walking down the 3km beach. I found this past weekend quite relaxing as I wasn't running around trying to see something or felt like I needed to go see something. I enjoyed listening to the ocean on the other side of the dune as I read a book. While Tramore is well known for its surfing, or so I hear, I did not participate something to do with the really cold water.

Today I also realized just how short my time in Europe is coming just a little over two weeks before I make the journey back to the US. I know I will miss it but at the same time I have enjoyed my time here and have learned a lot about myself during my travels. Off to have some fun for the little bit of time I have left!