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Approval of Construction on Cold War Memorial

UPDATE – On February 3rd, 2012 USFS Regional Forester Harv Forsgren officially approved of the construction of the Silent Heroes of the Cold War Memorial. As previously planned, it will be built as part of the Kyle Canyon Project at Mt. Charleston, Nevada. This is the first time such a project has been approved by the USFS. The Silent Heroes of the Cold War National Memorial will be the first and only memorial built on USFS land. It would not have been possible without the work of many in the Forest Service and with the help of Senator Reid and his Senior Policy Advisor Robert Herbert.

The Silent Heroes of the Cold War Committee expresses it’s gratitude to John Harris, Kyle Canyon Project Manager. He is working very closely with Stephanie Phillips, Deputy Forest Supervisor, and others at the Las Vegas office of the Forest Service. Hal Peterson and Robert Loudon must also be mentioned. And there are and have been others that have helped us over the years.

Once built, this memorial will stand as the only recognition of America’s heroes who worked in secret during the cold war. These are not forgotten heroes. These heroes are the unknown heroes that worked in classified top-secret projects and missions. Without many of their contributions the cold war could have ended very differently up to and including all out nuclear warfare. Even so, most of their contributions will never be known or fully understood. It is therefore our responsibility to do all we can to recognize these heroes and give proper thanks as we express our gratitude.

In the letter of approval Harv Forsgren, Regional Forester, stated: “I applaud your efforts in this partnership endeavor and approve the construction of the Cold War Memorial at the Middle Kyle Canyon site. The partnership that the forest has forged with the Silent Heroes of the Cold War group is an invaluable asset to the forest and district and serves as an example of the type of relationship with the private sector that the agency should be doing more of. . . Good luck with this project. We look forward to visiting the site to see the outcome in the next couple of years.”

Although we have been working closely with the USFS for over one decade, nevertheless, this is an important hurtle. Now we move into full gear to raise the additional $170,000 needed for construction. Again, special thanks to all mentioned and not mentioned that have been passionate about the memorial and have played a role in getting us one step closer to constructing and dedicating the Silent Heroes of the Cold War National Memorial.

– Steve Ririe, Chairman Feb 5, 2012

 

February 6, 2012   Tags: , , ,
Category: CIA, Cold War, Silent Heroes of the Cold War Memorial, U-2   No Comments comments

U-2 Spyplane Information you did not know about

U-2 Spyplanes; we know that they were designed and built by Lockheed for the CIA in the early 1950′s, to conduct clandestine over-flights of Soviet Russia, China, Cuba and other denied areas of the world. They became the most important source of Soviet intelligence in US history at that time.

Our overt knowledge of the U-2 came crashing into the world’s collective consciousness on May 1st 1960, when Francis Gary Powers was shot down in his U-2C over Sverdlovsk, Russia.

Within days of the shoot-down, Dr. Hugh Dryden, director of NASA, reiterated the agency’s previous (May 1956) statements that the U-2 aircraft was a new research tool for high-altitude atmospheric and meteorological research, flown with the logistical and technical support of the Air Force.

U-2 Historians have point to these and subsequent statements by NASA and its predecessor agency, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), as the US government’s first “cover story” to mask the true covert operational use of these new U-2 aircraft by the CIA.

The reality, from subsequent declassified government documents now reveals that, at the time Dryden made those proclamations in May 1956, the first U-2 aircraft were just becoming operational with the CIA. Within a month, the CIA conducted their first operational over-flights, conducted over Poland and East Germany. By the 4th of July 1956, the CIA had flown three more over-flights of Eastern Europe, including the very first clandestine over-flight of the Soviet Union.

Its important to note, that the US Air Force would not receive their first five U-2 aircraft until June 1957 and NASA wouldn’t finally get their (first) two U-2 aircraft until June 1971.

Looking back to when Dr. Dryden announced the peaceful scientific research purposes of the U-2 to the press in May 1960, after the Powers shoot-down, its now evident that he wasn’t actually lying. By that point, Air Force U-2 were conducting peaceful, high-altitude atmospheric and meteorological research flights throughout the world and would continue to do so until 1968.

Source: Dreamland Resort

 

December 18, 2011   Tags: , , , , ,
Category: Area 51, CIA, Nasa, U-2   No Comments comments

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