Each holiday season Jim Connell reflects on his involvement during the Cold War, a time when peace on Earth seemed impossible and mass destruction via nuclear weapons inevitable.

Connell, an Air Force veteran from Hayden, served during the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, but it's his duty during tension between the Soviet Union and United States superpowers that give him the greatest sense of pride.

"I had key roles in deterring a Soviet attack for many years," said Connell. "We preserved our way of life, and far more important, we preserved our Judaic-Christian heritage, which I consider to be the soul of this nation."

Dick Phenneger, a fellow Air Force veteran from Post Falls who also served during the Cold War as a pilot, agrees.

"No one liked the mission, but we all knew it was absolutely necessary to protect our nation, our families to prevent a holocaust," Phenneger said while trading war stories with Connell recently. "We were successful - that's what counts. By being so powerful, with our Christian philosophy, we were able to deter anyone from starting a nuclear war."

Connell, 83, who served in the military from 1950 to 1970, was a bombardier navigator responsible for the targeting of aerial bombs.

"I was the man who made the aircraft a weapon," Connell said. "We left no doubt in the minds of Soviet leadership, that if they chose to attack us, the result would have been total annihilation of their entire nation.

"Had they attacked, my role was to arm, aim and deliver the nuclear weapons. We were ready every minute."

The Cold War, often dated from 1945 to 1991, was so named because the two major powers, both possessing nuclear weapons, did not meet in direct military combat.

Connell said some people may not realize how big of a threat the Cold War presented.

"The vast majority of today's adults slept through the Cold War," he said.

'Airborne alert' memories

Connell said there are three memories that vividly stood out during his service.

After he returned from combat in Korea in 1952, he was assigned to a position in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) involving delivery of atomic bombs to the Soviet Union in response to a possible attack on our country.

"Having to face the expected collateral damage was psychologically and spiritually severe," he said.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 1960s, Connell recalls SAC keeping 88 B-52 bombers airborne 24-7 with nuclear weapons for more than 30 days. After the crisis, SAC reverted to 12 airborne just as before the crisis.

In 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Connell was on "airborne alert" over the North Atlantic headed toward targets in the Soviet Union.

"We believed the obvious, that the Soviets were responsible for his murder, and we were on our way to destroy the enemy's capacity to wage war," Connell said. "I did not expect to ever see my family again.

"We fully expected to penetrate the Soviet Union. I still get nervous talking about it. It was one of the longest days of my life. I don't believe a man with any emotional/spiritual depth can be really relaxed with a load of nuclear weapons aboard and "Positive Control" decoding document hanging around his neck."

When the captain learned that the "southern whites" assassinated the president and not the Soviets, Connell breathed a sigh of relief.

"I consciously expressed my thanks to the almighty (God) and asked Him to keep up the good work," Connell said. "It appeared that I would be able to return to the great life that my family and I were living.

"I had visualized myself delivering nukes 1,000 times before. That fateful day was the only occasion that I expected to deliver them. We walked away from the BUFF (B-52) that day with tremendous relief, but with great pride. Yes, we could have and would have done the job had we been called on to do so."

Years after leaving the Air Force, as a result of studying Marxist objectives, Connell said a bigger picture came into focus to him. Connell describes the Korean and Vietnam wars as "hot battles" in the Cold War that he believes were orchestrated from Moscow.

"The Soviets had sucked us into the Vietnam War to split our country, shake our national resolve and perhaps bankrupt us," he said. "They accomplished the first two. They have made incredible progress toward their third objective, which is still in their sights. The Cold War still isn't really over."

Ready for action

Phenneger, who was in the Air Force from 1959 to 1966, recalls October 1962 during airborne alert amid the Cuban Missile Crisis.

His crew had returned to Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane after refueling B-52s when it was met by the squadron commander, who advised members to prepare their families and return to the base.

"SAC was fully ready to mobilize within 15 minutes when President Kennedy announced to the world on Oct. 22 his demand that Russia immediately withdraw all missiles from Cuba," Phenneger said.

SAC remained on alert until Nov. 20 when an agreement was reached in which Russia withdrew.

"Not counting the missiles, there were more than 1,500 bombers loaded and ready for launch and a formidable number already airborne, circling at numerous locations around the world," Phenneger said. "This is in addition to the ships at sea and submarines that were also loaded and ready.

"The War of Deterrence crafted by our military leaders was a success."

Phenneger said some people may not realize just how close we came during the Cuban crisis to launching.

The second time Phenneger thought crews may launch was in 1964 when the alert horn blew at Fairchild in the early morning. This wasn't another practice drill as "line up for takeoff" was ordered.

"As we were pulling out and preparing to line up, the alert was canceled," Phenneger said. "Apparently there was a temporary loss of all communications with our northern radar sites. These were the sites that would be the first to detect a Russian attack. It was a fluke accident that was quickly rectified."

Lesson learned, however.

"From that point forward we also had KC-135s in the air 24-7 as a third line of communications," Phenneger said.

Missions accomplished

Phenneger said Idaho's Mountain Home Air Force Base and Spokane's Fairchild played major roles in the "War of Deterrence."

In September 1957, Mountain Home's 9th Bombardment Wing was selected for the final test of the ground alert system SAC needed to make the War of Deterrence work.

The test was successful and the system was started in which a third of the bombers were loaded with nuclear bombs and able to take off within 15 minutes of notification.

The test was called "Operation Fresh Approach."

Fairchild's 92nd Bombardment Wing was selected for one of the tests - Head Start II - of the airborne alert program in 1959.

"They were required to keep five B-52s airborne at all times," Phennegar said. "This was a test of mental and physical endurance of all crew members, bombers and tankers, support and logistics. "The test became the forerunner of the airborne alert system I was involved in until I left the Air Force."

By 1962 Phenneger said our country's B-47 bombers, B-52 bombers and KC-135 tankers posed an awesome, destructive force that the Russians could not overcome.

"The fact that we had a high number of B-52s airborne at all times and loaded with up to three nuclear bombs and more than 700 bombers that could be in the air within 15 minutes created a force that could not be stopped," Phenneger said. "To be a part of this was sobering, challenging and required a commitment to excellence by each crewman.

"We all knew and understood our mission and the fact that failure was not an option. To be a part of this was a privilege granted to a few."

Connell said the sacrifices made by all veterans and their families should be remembered during the holiday season.

"If our employers could understand the character, discipline and sense of responsibility and integrity of our veterans coming home today, they would be standing in line to interview them," he said.