The America's National Parks Podcast is sponsored by L.L. Bean has partnered with the National Park Foundation to help you find your happy place.

And with more than 400 National Parks, there's a good chance you'll find one close to home.

Discover your perfect day in a park at find your park.com. During the Cold War, a vast arsenal of nuclear missiles, was placed across the Great Plains. Hidden in

plain sight for 30 years, 1,000 missiles were kept on constant alert. Hundreds remained today.

The Minuteman missile remains an iconic weapon in the American nuclear arsenal.

It holds the power to destroy civilization, but is meant as a nuclear deterrent to maintain peace and prevent war.

I'm Jason Epperson, and today on America's National Parks, the Minuteman Missile National Historic

site near Wall, South Dakota. There were 15 launch control facilities that commanded and controlled 150 silos housing

Minuteman Intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The park protects two such facilities that were once part of a missile fleet that covered the far western portion of South Dakota from 1963 through the early 90s.

Launch Control Facility Delta 1 with its corresponding underground

silo, Delta 9. During the Cold War, thousands of Air Force personnel and Minuteman missile fields throughout

the Great Plains worked and lived around nuclear weapons that held unprecedented destructive

power.

It was these weapons that constantly threatened the devastation of any aggressor nation that might consider

launching a nuclear attack against the United States or its allies. This threat of mutually assured

destruction acted as a deterrent to enemies while paradoxically preserving an

uneasy peace.

One of the most serious responsibilities during the Cold War was to be a part of a missile crew, with

the ability to initiate the use of nuclear weapons from a launch Control Center.

These crews were ready to respond at a moment's notice.

At the same time, maintenance and security police ensured that the sites were totally

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