Legacy

Russia Reality

By Karl C. Priest July 4, 2017

The current controversy about the Russian rivalry with America moves me to memories of a time when there was no contention about the situation. People, of all political persuasions, knew that Russia was rancorous. That was the Cold War (1947-1991) period in history. It was called “cold”, but there was lots of hot fighting in places like Korea and Vietnam. However, for hundreds of thousands of military personnel the Cold War was long hours of tedious tension as they gave attention to their delegated duties.

During most of the Cold War years almost all Americans were acutely aware of a potential nuclear attack by Russia. There were even Duck and Cover drills in the schools. (Search that term on the Internet for images and videos that will provide extraordinary examples.) America’s political and military leaders took action to deter and defend against a Russian missile launch. I played a small part in one of those strategies.

After boot camp I wanted to see the world. Uncle Sam had other ideas. He assigned me to one of only two U.S. Navy ships designated as National Emergency Command Post Afloat (NECPA) stations. My ship, the USS Wright (CC-2), was the newest and better equipped of the two vessels with a variety of state-of-the-art (for that era) communication equipment. One of the ships was designated for duty every two weeks. She stayed off the East Coast and close to the president, or near a shore Communications Base. Usually we were many miles out on the awesome Atlantic, but sometimes we operated within sight of the coast. Civilians would venture out in motor boats to take a look. Let’s just say that it was torture for the crew when one of those boats contained lively ladies of college age.

After the turn of being on alert was over, the ships would pass each other near Norfolk as they traded places. The goal was to provide a floating White House for Continuity of Government. Helicopters were on duty 24/7, at an Air Force base near DC, waiting to whisk the president to the ship at sea. Other government members had separate destinations such as the secret (at the time) bunker under the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs.

The first week I was aboard we went through a drill that was so realistic that I thought the bombs had landed. I was concerned about my loved ones. It turned out that I had not noticed the “drill” announcement.

Occasionally we were informed that a commercial ship from a Communist Bloc country was near us. I don’t recall any other country’s ships doing that. We always figured it was a spy ship. Once, late at night, we were somewhere near New England when we nearly had a collision with a non-Navy ship. It was a scary scene at sea. I never heard the country that other ship was from.

Russia was a formidable foe during the Cold War, continues to be to this day, and will be in the future. Bible scholars of prophecy believe Russia will play a prominent role in End Times events regarding Israel.

President Dwight Eisenhower said, “There is but one sure way to avoid total war--and that is to win the cold war. While retaliatory power is one strong deterrent to a would-be aggressor, another powerful deterrent is defensive power. No enemy is likely to attempt an attack foredoomed to failure.”* Cold War veterans victoriously made sure those words were honored on their watch.

During the Cold War there were many members of the military who did their lonely jobs with loyalty. Please ask President Trump to do what President Obama failed to do, issue a medal to Cold War veterans. No matter what, do not forget the Cold War and the reality of Russia.

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For more about the NECPA ships see the author’s article “Ghosts of the East Coast: Doomsday Ships” published in the Cold War Times (http://coldwar.org/text_files/coldwartimesfeb2006.pdf ).  Personal photographs of life aboard the USS Wright can be viewed at http://www.insectman.us/testimony/uss-wright.htm .

*http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9829

The article was published in the Charleston Gazette-Mail on July 16 with the heading “Karl C. Priest: Do not forget the Cold War and the reality of Russia”.

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