Greg in the Camaro, Minot AFB main gate beyond

I am sure mom took this.  I'm at the wheel of the Camaro.  The front gate to Minot AFB is beyond.

I was at the base only a few days after Vandenberg when another Arab-Israeli conflict erupted.  Something happened late at night (I believe the Israelis had the Egyptian Army surrounded and the Soviets threatened the U.S. to call off the Israeli final attack so that the Egyptians could flee back across the Suez Canal).  Because of the Soviet threat, the missile crews were required to take out their launch keys and insert them into the launch panels.  Fortunately, the crisis passed, that step was rescinded, and the keys went back into their secure lock boxes.  But that incident inspired the following poem:

Nearing War

Yes,
even I question why all this is written,
but then in the early darkness of any day
a twisting of wrists...

We have been close.

While you sleep we could be shaking
a new world awake--
that uncovers countless
without protesting the transition.

Not even will exist an instant
long enough to add reacting thought to realization.
Only terror at the tip of burning winds
is recognized.

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