My dad was a Capt. in the USAF in the mid 60's. He was stationed at Minot AFB, ND., and launched a new test Minuteman, but of course he didn't know it was a test at the time he and his partner were ordered to turn their keys during the height of the cold war with the Soviet Union. I have a plaque with the key he turned (the teeth were filed off though) along with a poster-sized color photo of the missile coming out of the ground and his issued 38 special S&W revolver. Since he was locked away underground with 1 other person for days at a time with no contact with the outside world, I was wondering why they had guns. He said it was in case your partner didn't turn their key after ordered to do so...

One thing he got a kick of before he passed away, was using google earth to check out the old base. He was surprised at how much you could see.