VietNow National Magazine

They usually call it the Cold War. Supposedly a time of peace.
A ‘cold peace.’ But how much do you really know about it?

Article by Matt Davison

It’s amazing how many people think of the Cold War as peacetime. If this were truly the case, why not refer to it as the Cold “Peace”? Many people, even some veterans, cannot understand that Cold Warriors faced the same hazards, daily, year-in-year-out as those who served during “war time.”

It’s easy to dismiss this kind of service as “peace time,” but that misses the point. This was a different kind of service, a different kind of war, and it deserves more recognition.

In the late nineteen-fifties and early nineteen-sixties, I was involved in what was referred to as the “shooting gallery off Japan,” serving with Air Force electronic “Floor Stations,” operated by the U.S. Air Force Security Service, where we monitored Communist radar emissions and missile tests from many locations along the Pacific rim. The largest, with over one thousand airmen, and the controlling center for the Pacific, was the 6920th Electronic Security Group, at Misawa Air Force Base, Japan.

Russian MIGs, from their airfield on the Kurile Islands, would regularly buzz our station, but no encounters ever occurred because U.S. fighters would scramble quickly. I also remember when the Communists slapped a blockade on the island of Quemoy and began an artillery bombardment. This was a flash point that put us on full alert.

The thing “hot war” veterans need to remember, is that we all answered the call – drafted or volunteered. ­America needed its guardians of freedom, and we were there. We served around the globe for forty-six years, ensuring that freedom would not disappear at the hands of totalitarian Communist regimes.

We did this in places most of the world never heard of, in the air, on land, and at sea.

Cold War is a term that invites many stereotypes, and yet involves many shades of warfare – conventional and unconventional, open and in the shadows. We served in the bunkers of NORAD and over Soviet airspace, tracking Soviet submarines, and detecting enemy radar emissions along the coast of North Korea and the USSR. We were deployed to Nike Hercules nuclear missile units that defended places ranging from New Jersey, to forward locations along the Iron Curtain and Korean DMZ, and in places mostly unheard of. Sometimes the Cold War turned hot, and we accepted that risk.

Editor’s Note: If not for the brave and unheralded Cold Warriors, we might all be worshipping at the shrine of Vladimir Lenin today – not a pleasant thought.

The number of killed and wounded in Cold War operations has been unresolved over time. These deaths were often shrouded in secrecy and classified as “accidents” due to political or security reasons. The VFW has recognized the number as being at least three hundred and eighty-two hostile fire deaths at the hands of Communist forces, but many believe that number should be much higher. Robert Gates is quoted as saying “...and so the greatest American
triumphs became a particularly joyless victory. We had won the Cold
War, but there would be no parades.”

From the first fatal shoot-down in 1946 over Yugoslavia, to the seventeen-man
crew shot down over Armenia in 1958 – and other fatal shootdowns over the Sea of Japan and North Korea, this was never a “Cold Peace.”

Another oddity in all this is the deaths of Army Major Dale Buis and Master Sergeant Chester Ovnand, at the hands of the Viet Cong in Bien Hoa, Vietnam. These deaths occurred in 1959, prior to the designated “Vietnam Era.” They are listed as “Cold War” KIA, and yet they are the first two names on the Vietnam Veterans Wall.

There are those who say that a day should be set aside to nationally honor those who served to contain Communism. And there are those who believe a Cold War medal should be given to those who had served during this time. The medal was proposed, only to be vetoed by then-President George W. Bush, even though it had the backing of Senators Clinton, Collins, Schumer, and Lincoln. Maybe, under the leadership of President Obama, these Cold Warriors will finally be recognized for their vigilance and sacrifice in what was arguably the most dangerous era the world has ever known.

National Veterans Incarcerated Chairman, Matt Davison lives in California, and works with veterans incarcerated every day.

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