Cold War Veterans Blog

Cold War Veterans Seek Recognition

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America's longest war, even though it was undeclared, was the Cold War. It was a struggle between the United States and our allies against Russia and the Communist Bloc. It lasted from Sept. 1945 to Dec. 1991.

Some of you might remember air raid drills, duck and cover, backyard fallout shelters; and the constant threat offull nuclear war. As both sides continued to amass a large stockpile of nuclear weapons, each trying to be bigger and better than the other.

Time has a way of blunting memory, letting places and events fade into the dark forgotten part of history. Our Veterans Service Organization, The American Cold War Veterans, Inc. does not want that to happen.

We are dedicated to finding information about the Cold War, making the public aware of how and why it was fought.Our military forces were around the world, the Fulda Gap, the Congo, Cuban Blockade, Korea, Vietnam and other hot spots.24/7/365 armed and ready at all times.
On the ground, aboard ships at sea, and submarines under the surface, SAC airplanes flying to the point of no return, in missile silos, never knowing is this a drill or the real thing. The stress and hardship of possibly being theone to push the button in retaliation, knowing you could be destroying millions and bringing about "Nuclear Winter"was always on our minds.

Some people think of it as "peace time", or say "you were not shot at". Well, our ground forces were shot at, ourplanes were shot from the sky by Communists over Korea, China and other places while on patrols so secretthat the truth was not told for many years. Many of the families did not know, it was reported as "training accident",or "equipment malfunction". We did not want the enemy to know, what we were doing.

Even today, some of these veterans can not discuss where they were or what they were doing. Sworn to secrecyfor life. Just some of the hidden facts of the Cold War that the public never knew.

These brave and dedicated servicemen and women served their tours of duty, and never received an awardor medal of any kind. You had to be in the right spot and at the right time to be eligible. Many missed the cut-off dates by a few days, or the designated area by a few miles.
The American Cold War Veterans are attempting to right this wrong. To bring honor and recognition whereit is due.

For the last ten years we have been petitioning Congress to authorize and direct the Department of Defense toissue a "Cold War Victory (or Service) medal. Several times a provision for the medal was written into theNational Defense Authorization Act, but that was removed during Senate/House committee meetings.

This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, and the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.What would be a better and more significant time to recognize all those veterans who served honorably during the Cold War.

At the present time there is a bill in the Senate Armed Services Committee, S.1097 The Cold War Medal Act 2007.We ask that each of you contact both of your Senators, ask them to be a cosponsor for S.1097. This will be a wonderful way to honor our veterans. It would be especially special for the family's of those who gave their all,and sacrificed their lives to protect our freedom.

Senator McCain, Senator Obama, would you be willing to extend our country's thanks and gratitude? Wouldyou as President issue a medal by Executive Order?
Visit our website www.americancoldwarvets.org
"We Remember" do you?

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Jerald Terwilliger

National Vice President

American Cold War Veterans