NEW BOOK Camp Cooke and Vandenberg Air Force Base 1941-1966 (Santa Maria)

NEW BOOK Camp Cooke and Vandenberg Air Force Base 1941-1966

This book is a compelling history that should be in the hands of everyone interested in World War II the Korean War and America s early space program. During World War II and the Korean War thousands of soldiers trained at Camp Cooke and participated in some of the bloodiest battles. As evidence of this carnage six Congressional Medal of Honor recipients came from Camp Cooke. The camp also hosted numerous USO camp shows featuring many of Hollywood s headlining entertainers including Bob Hope Dorothy Lamour Orson Wells and Susan Hayward as well as many other luminaries from radio and stage and the sports world. The transition from Army camp to Air Force base began in 1957 and culminated a year later with the renaming of the installation Vandenberg Air Force Base. It has since become America s only space and missile base. America s first spy satellite program known as Corona was conducted from Vandenberg. The intelligence data collected from these missions dispelled the myth of a missile gap with the Soviet Union. At the height of the Cold War America s first ICBM missile equipped with a nuclear warhead was based at Vandenberg. We can be reasonably sure these missiles had a significant effect in helping to curb the ambitions of Russian s political leaders. Topping the list of important visitors to the base was President John F. Kennedy who witnessed the launch of an Atlas missile. And as part of an unprecedented trip to the United States Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev passed through the base on a train in 1959. Read about his surprising reaction as his train passed within view of Atlas ICBMs with nuclear warheads standing on alert. The book is also filled with many little-known but important accounts including the exposure of 1 000 Camp Cooke soldiers to above-ground atomic bomb detonations in the Nevada desert (more than a decade before the controversial exposure of American soldiers to Agent Orange in Vietnam) missile accidents at Vandenberg and the tragic death of a young airman in a missile training exercise. Included in the appendices of the book are biographies of Generals Cooke and Vandenberg a list of nearly every Army unit that trained at Cooke and a historical summary of every launch facility at Vandenberg and the missile types flown from these facilities up to the present. You won t find this information anywhere else. This book is the definitive history of Camp Cooke and Vandenberg AFB. No other source comes close to matching the vast and in-depth information you ll find in this volume. Written by the former chief historian at Vandenberg who worked more than 30 years at the base the detailed narrative is enriched by many rare and previously unpublished images. 284pp. Softcover (6 x 9) 2014 102 photos 5 maps 7 appendices notes bibliography and index. Publisher McFarland & Company. www.mcfarlandpub.com Publisher s Price 39.95AUTHOR S PRICE TO YOU 36.00 - Postage free and autographed by the author. This is a great savings for a truly remarkable book. Get one for yourself and a second copy as a holiday gift for the history buff in your family. To order a copy of my book please contact me at this ad. What people are saying about the book . . . The book is terrific. --Actress Elinor Donahue Excellent -- scholarly and readable --Philip Gambone