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Prime Minister [[Eisaku Satō]] and Foreign Minister [[Takeo Miki]] had explained to the Japanese parliament that "the return of the Bonins had nothing to do with nuclear weapons yet the final agreement included a secret annex, and its exact wording remained classified." A December 30, 1968, cable from the U.S. embassy in Tokyo is titled "Bonin Agreement Nuclear Storage," but within the same file "the National Archives contains a 'withdrawal sheet' for an attached Tokyo cable dated April 10, 1968, titled 'Bonins Agreement--Secret Annex,'".<ref name="BAS2000" />
Prime Minister [[Eisaku Satō]] and Foreign Minister [[Takeo Miki]] had explained to the Japanese parliament that "the return of the Bonins had nothing to do with nuclear weapons yet the final agreement included a secret annex, and its exact wording remained classified." A December 30, 1968, cable from the U.S. embassy in Tokyo is titled "Bonin Agreement Nuclear Storage," but within the same file "the National Archives contains a 'withdrawal sheet' for an attached Tokyo cable dated April 10, 1968, titled 'Bonins Agreement--Secret Annex,'".<ref name="BAS2000" />


Kristensen writes that in the early 1970s, the Department of Defense began withdrawing forward-deployed tactical nuclear weapons from bases in East Asia because they were increasingly perceived as vulnerable to terrorists. Thus nuclear weapons were removed from Okinawa in the early 1970s, from Taiwan in 1974, and from the Philippines in 1976.<ref name=Kristensen1999>{{Cite report |author=Hans M. Kristensen |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= July 1999|title=Japan Under the Nuclear Umbrella: U.S. Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear War Planning In Japan During the Cold War |url=http://www.nukestrat.com/pubs/JapanUmbrella.pdf |publisher= The Nautilus Institute|page= |docket= |accessdate=April 20, 2013 |quote= }}</ref> Kristensen therefore argues that the withdrawal of forward-deployed weapons was 'not simply' due to the sovereignty-return negotiations.<ref name=Kristensen1999 />
Kristensen writes that in the early 1970s, the Department of Defense began withdrawing forward-deployed tactical nuclear weapons from bases in East Asia because they were increasingly perceived as vulnerable to terrorists.{{Dubious}} Thus nuclear weapons were removed from Okinawa in the early 1970s, {{Dubious}}, from Taiwan in 1974, and from the Philippines in 1976.<ref name=Kristensen1999>{{Cite report |author=Hans M. Kristensen |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= July 1999|title=Japan Under the Nuclear Umbrella: U.S. Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear War Planning In Japan During the Cold War |url=http://www.nukestrat.com/pubs/JapanUmbrella.pdf |publisher= The Nautilus Institute|page= |docket= |accessdate=April 20, 2013 |quote= }}</ref> Kristensen therefore argues that the withdrawal of forward-deployed weapons was 'not simply' due to the sovereignty-return negotiations.<ref name=Kristensen1999 />{{clarify}}


== Secret agreements for nuclear weapon deployment, storage and transit ==
== Secret agreements for nuclear weapon deployment, storage and transit ==

Revision as of 13:51, 26 March 2017

Main articles: Nuclear weapons and the United States, Japan and weapons of mass destruction, and Japan's non-nuclear weapons policy
Weapons of mass destruction
By type
By country
Proliferation
Treaties

United States nuclear weapons were stored secretly at bases in Japan's southern islands from after World War II until 1972.

Post-war governance of Okinawa and southern Japanese islands

The United States Navy initially administered the the island of Okinawa during the occupation of Japan. After the surrender of Japan, Okinawa was placed under control of the United States Military Government of the Ryukyu Islands on September 21, 1945, and an Okinawa Advisory Council was created.

In 1952 Japan signed the Treaty of San Francisco that allowed the future control of Okinawa by the United States Military Government (USMG) in post-occupation Japan. The United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands (USCAR), as part of the Department of Defense, maintained overriding authority over the Japanese Government of the Ryukyu Islands. This situation persisted until the 1971 Okinawa Reversion Agreement took effect on May 15, 1972, when the Ryukyu Islands were were returned to Japan.[1]

A 1963 national intelligence estimate authored by the Central Intelligence Agency, Japans Problems and Prospects stated that:

Continued US administration of Okinawa will probably not become an active political issue in Japan during the next few years. The present government and sophisticated opinion recognize the importance of Okinawa to the defense of Japan and non-Communist Asia. If the Japanese should come to believe that the rights or welfare of the Okinawans were being prejudiced or that the US intended to make the present administrative arrangements permanent, the leftists could whip up popular resentment, and the question of the return of the islands to Japan could become a major issue...[2][3]

After 1945, the Bonin Islands including Chichi Jima, the Ryukyu Islands including Okinawa, and the Volcano Islands including Iwo Jima were retained under under American control. The islands were among "thirteen separate locations in Japan that had nuclear weapons or components, or were earmarked to receive nuclear weapons in times of crisis or war."[4] According to a former U.S. Air Force officer stationed on Iwo Jima, the would have island served as a recovery facility for bombers after they had dropped their bombs in the Soviet Union or China. War planners reasoned that bombers could return Iwo Jima, "where they would be refueled, reloaded, and readied to deliver a second salvo as an assumption was that the major U.S. Bases in Japan and the Pacific theater would be destroyed in a nuclear war." It was believed by war planners that a small base might evade destruction and be a safe harbor for surviving submarines to reload. Supplies to re-equip submarines submarines as well as Anti-submarine weapons were stored within caves on Chichi Jima. The Johnson administration gradually realized that it would be forced to return Chichi Jima and Iwo Jima "to delay reversion of the more important Okinawa bases" however, President Johnson also wanted Japan's support for U.S. Military operations in Southeast Asia." The Bonin and Volcano islands were eventually returned to Japan in June 1968.[4]

Prime Minister Eisaku Satō and Foreign Minister Takeo Miki had explained to the Japanese parliament that "the return of the Bonins had nothing to do with nuclear weapons yet the final agreement included a secret annex, and its exact wording remained classified." A December 30, 1968, cable from the U.S. embassy in Tokyo is titled "Bonin Agreement Nuclear Storage," but within the same file "the National Archives contains a 'withdrawal sheet' for an attached Tokyo cable dated April 10, 1968, titled 'Bonins Agreement--Secret Annex,'".[4]

Kristensen writes that in the early 1970s, the Department of Defense began withdrawing forward-deployed tactical nuclear weapons from bases in East Asia because they were increasingly perceived as vulnerable to terrorists.[dubious – discuss] Thus nuclear weapons were removed from Okinawa in the early 1970s, [dubious – discuss], from Taiwan in 1974, and from the Philippines in 1976.[5] Kristensen therefore argues that the withdrawal of forward-deployed weapons was 'not simply' due to the sovereignty-return negotiations.[5][clarification needed]

Secret agreements for nuclear weapon deployment, storage and transit

Secrecy typically surrounds weapons of mass destruction. Revealing WMD can carry severe political complications for policymakers who may face pressure to remove them.[5][6][7][8][9] Unknown to its' inhabitants, Okinawa hosted 'hundreds of nuclear warheads and a large arsenal of chemical munitions.'[10] Until the fact that U.S. nuclear weapons were stored on Okinawa was officially declassified in February 2016, photographs of nuclear weapons and delivery systems were the only proof of the somewhat open secret that the weapons were present on the Island.[11][12]

A TM-72 Mace missile is trucked through the Okinawa city of Gushikawa in the early 1960s in a rare open display.

Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, written by MacArthur immediately after the war, contains a total rejection of nuclear weapons. But when the U.S. military occupation of Japan ended in 1951, a new security treaty was signed that granted the United States rights to base its "land, sea, and air forces in and about Japan."[4]

It is true that Chichi Jima, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa were under U.S. occupation, that the bombs stored on the mainland lacked their plutonium and/or uranium cores, and that the nuclear-armed ships were a legal inch away from Japanese soil. All in all, this elaborate strategem maintained the technicality that the United States had no nuclear weapons "in Japan."[4]

In 1959, Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi stated that Japan would neither develop nuclear weapons nor permit them on its territory".[4] He instituted the Three Non-Nuclear Principles--"no production, no possession, and no introduction."

But when these non-nuclear principles were being enunciated, Japanese territory was already fully compromised, in spirit if not in letter. Although actual nuclear weapons were removed from Iwo Jima at the end of 1959, Chichi Jima, which had the same legal status, continued to house warheads with their nuclear materials until 1965. And Okinawa, of course, was chock-a-block full of nuclear weapons of all types until 1972. Nuclear-armed ships moored at U.S. Navy bases in Japan, and others called at Japanese ports without restriction...Yet, as compromised as it was, Japan's non-nuclear policy was not wholly fictitious. The Pentagon never commanded nuclear storage rights on the main islands, and it had to withdraw nuclear weapons from Okinawa in 1972...Undoubtedly, Japanese rulers firmly believed that the compromises they made with Washington were necessary for Japanese security during the dark days of the Cold War. Through it all, nonetheless, "non-nuclear Japan" was a sentiment, not a reality.[4]

A 1960 accord with Japan permits the United States to move weapons of mass destruction through Japanese territory and allows American warships and submarines to carry nuclear weapons into Japan's ports and American aircraft to bring them in during landings.[5][13][14] The agreement does not allow the United States to deploy or store nuclear arms in Japan without the permission of the Japanese Government. The discussion took place during negotiations in 1959, and the agreement was made in 1960 by Aiichiro Fujiyama, then Japan's Foreign Minister.[13] "There were many things left unsaid; it was a very sophisticated negotiation. The Japanese are masters at understood and unspoken communication in which one is asked to draw inferences from what may not be articulated."[13]

Technicians at work on a Mace B nuclear-armed cruise missile in a hard-site launcher on Okinawa in 1962

The secret agreement was concluded without any Japanese text so that it could be plausibly denied in Japan.[4][13] Since only the American officials recorded the oral agreement, not having the agreement recorded in Japanese allowed Japan's leaders to deny its existence without fear that someone would leak a document to prove them wrong.[13] The arrangement also made it appear that the United States alone was responsible for the transit of nuclear munitions through Japan.[13] However, the original agreement document turned up in 1969 during preparation for an updated agreement, when a memorandum was written by a group of U.S. officials from the National Security Council Staff; the Departments of State, Defense, Army, Commerce and Treasury; the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Central Intelligence Agency; and the United States Information Agency.[5][13][14]

Japans Problems and Prospects states, US bases in Japan and related problems of weapons and forces will continue to involve issues of great sensitivity in Japan-US relations. The government is bound to be responsive to the popular pressures which the left can whip up on these issues. We do not believe that this situation will lead to demands by any conservative government for evacuation of the bases.[2][3]

Mark 7 Atomic bomb being readied by the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing at Kadena Air Base

On the one year anniversary of a B-52 explosion and near-miss at Kadena Prime Minister Sato and President Nixon met in Washington, DC where several agreements including a revised Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) and a formal policy related to the future deployment of nuclear weapons on Okinawa were reached.[15]

A draft of the November 21, 1969, Agreed Minute to Joint Communique of United States President Nixon and Japanese Prime Minister Sato was found in 1994. The English text of the draft agreement reads:[15]

United States President:

As stated in our Joint Communique, it is the intention of the United States Government to remove all the nuclear weapons from Okinawa by the time of actual reversion of the administrative rights to Japan; and thereafter the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security and its related arrangements will apply to Okinawa, as described in the Joint Communique. However, in order to discharge effectively the international obligations assumed by the United States for the defense of countries in the Far East including Japan, in time of great emergency the United Stales Government will require the re-entry of nuclear weapons and transit rights in Okinawa with prior consultation with the Government of Japan. The United States Government would anticipate a favorable response. The United States Government also requires the standby retention and activation in time of great emergency of existing nuclear storage locations in Okinawa: Kadena, Naha, Henoko, and the Nike Hercules units...

Japanese Prime Minister:

The Government of Japan, appreciating the United States Government's requirements in time of great emergency stated above by the President, will meet these requirements without delay when such prior consultation takes place. The President and the Prime Minister agreed that this Minute, in duplicate, be kept each only in the offices of the President and the Prime Minister and be treated in the strictest confidence between only the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Japan.

In July 1967 a proposal for an expanded secret nuclear weapon storage depot at Camp Schwab in Henoko was made by the U.S. Department of Defense. The approval of the never-implemented 1960s plan came to light in 2016.[16][17]

Nuclear weapons in Okinawa

Thirty-two Mace Missiles were kept on constant nuclear alert in hardened hangers at four of the island's launch sites.[18][19]

The Army's 280mm M65 Atomic Cannon nicknamed "Atomic Annie" and its ammunition were also based on Okinawa.[20] at one point the island hosted approximately 1,200 nuclear warheads.[21] At the time, nuclear storage locations included Kadena AFB in Chibana and the hardened MGM-13 Mace missile launch sites; Naha AFB, Henoko [Camp Henoko (Ordnance Ammunition Depot) at Camp Schwab], and the Nike Hercules units on Okinawa.[15]

North American F-100 Super Sabre fighter-bombers capable of carrying hydrogen bombs were also present.[22]

The Chibana depot held warheads for 19 different atomic and thermonuclear weapons systems in the hardened weapon storage areas.[23][20] The depot held the Mark 28 nuclear bomb warheads used in the MGM-13 MACE cruise missile as well as warheads for nuclear tipped MGR-1 Honest John and MIM-14 Nike-Hercules (Nike-H) missiles.[20]

Suspected nuclear weapons incidents on Okinawa

Main article: Nuclear and radiation accidents

Complete information surrounding accidents involving nuclear weapons at overseas bases is not generally available via official channels.[6][5][9][15] News of accidents on the island usually did not reach much farther than the islands local news, protest groups, eyewitnesses and rumor mills. However, the incidents that were publicized garnered international opposition to chemical and nuclear weapons and set the stage for the 1971 Okinawa Reversion Agreement to officially ending the U.S. military occupation on Okinawa.[23][24][25][26][27][28]

Mark 28 atomic bomb being transported to an F-100 by the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing on Okinawa
A MGM-13 MACE B missile launches from silo. Controversy has emerged over whether, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Okinawa-based 873d Tactical Missile Squadron received orders to launch against Sino-Soviet targets.[11]
MIM-14 Nike-H missile at Okinawa, June 1967

In June or July 1959, a MIM-14 Nike-Hercules anti-aircraft missile was accidentally fired from the Nike site 8 battery at Naha Air Base on Okinawa which according to some witnesses, was complete with a nuclear warhead.[29] While the missile was undergoing continuity testing of the firing circuit, known as a squib test, stray voltage caused a short circuit in a faulty cable that was lying in a puddle and allowed the missile's rocket engines to ignite with the launcher still in a horizontal position.[29] The Nike missile left the launcher and smashed through a fence and down into a beach area skipping the warhead out across the water "like a stone."[29] The rocket's exhaust blast killed two Army technicians and injured one.[29] A similar accidental launch of a Nike-H missile had occurred on April 14, 1955, at the W-25 site in Davidsonville, Maryland, which is near the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort George G. Meade.[30] Newsweek magazine reported that, Kennedy was informed that, "there had been more than 60 accidents involving U.S. nuclear weapons," since World War II, "including two cases in which nuclear-tipped anti-aircraft missiles were actually launched by inadvertence."[31][32][33]

On October 28, 1962, during the peak of the Cuban Missile Crisis, U.S. strategic forces were at Defense Condition Two (DEFCON 2). According to missile technicians who witnessed events, the four MACE B missile sites on Okinawa erroneously received coded launch orders to fire all of their 32 nuclear cruise missiles at the Soviets and their allies. Quick thinking by Capt. William Bassett who questioned whether the order was "the real thing, or the biggest screw up we will ever experience in our lifetime” delayed the orders to launch until the error was realized by the missile operations center. According to witness John Bordne, Capt. Bassett was the senior field officer commanding the missiles and was nearly forced to have a subordinate lieutenant who was intent on following the orders to launch his missiles shot by armed security guards. No U.S. Government record of this incident has ever been officially released.[34][35] Former missileers have refuted Bordne's account.[36]

Next, on December 5, 1965, in an incident at sea near Okinawa, an A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft rolled off of an elevator of the aircraft carrier the USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) into 16,000 feet of water resulting in the loss of the pilot, the aircraft, and the B43 nuclear bomb it was carrying, all of which were too deep for recovery.[37] Since the ship was traveling to Japan from duty in the Vietnam war zone, no public mention was made of the incident at the time and it would not come to light until 1981 when a Pentagon report revealed that a one-megaton bomb had been lost.[38] Japan then formally asked for details of the incident.[39]

In September 1968, Japanese newspapers reported that radioactive Cobalt-60 had been detected contaminating portions of the Naha Port Facility, sickening three. The radioactive contamination was believed by scientists to have emanated from visiting U.S. nuclear submarines.[40]

B-52 Crash at Kadena Air Base (1968)

Main article: 1968 Kadena Air Base B-52 crash
Thousands of artillery projectiles at Chibana Army Ammunition Depot, February 1969

On November 19, 1968, a U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command B-52D Stratofortress with a full bomb load, broke up and caught fire after the plane aborted takeoff at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa before a Operation Arc Light bombing mission to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.[41][26] The pilot was able to keep the plane on the ground and bring the aircraft to a stop while preventing a much larger catastrophe.[23] The aircraft came to rest near the edge of the Kadena's perimeter, some 250 meters from the Chibana Ammunition Depot.[41][23]

The crash led to demands to remove the B-52s from Okinawa and strengthened a push for the reversion from U.S. rule in Okinawa.[26][28] Okinawans had correctly suspected that the Chibana depot held nuclear weapons.[23] The crash sparked fears that another potential disaster on the island could put the chemical and nuclear stockpile and the surrounding population in jeopardy and increased the urgency of moving them to a less populated and less active storage location.

Weapon withdrawal

The U.S. eventually revealed the presence of nuclear weapons in 1971 during negotiations over the 1971 Okinawa Reversion Agreement, which later returned sovereignty to Japan. According to researchers, Japan was then asked to fund the removal of the weapons.[42]

Nuclear weapons based on Okinawa were reportedly removed prior to 1972. However, nuclear command and control aircraft continued to operate from the island.[5] Strategic Air Command had designated Kadena (as well as a base on the mainland, Yokota Air Base), as a dispersal location for new airborne command post aircraft, codenamed "Blue Eagle", in 1965. The 9th Airborne Command and Control Squadron of the 15th Air Base Wing provided this airborne command and control to Commander in Chief Pacific Command from Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, from 1969.[43] Together with similarly equipped United States Navy C-130s, operating these aircraft from Japanese bases enabled the National Command Authority to control Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP) processes for theater or general nuclear war. These exercises continued at least into the 1990s. The U.S. continues to follow a policy of “neither confirm nor deny” regarding the present location of U.S. nuclear weapons and in many cases, of past locations.[11]

References

  1. ^ E. Takemae (2003). The Allied Occupation of Japan. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8264-1521-9. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  2. ^ a b Director Central Intelligence (October 9, 1963). National Intelligence Estimate 41-63 Japans Problems and Prospects (PDF) (Report). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved April 25, 2013. {{cite report}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ a b Joint Chiefs of Staff (February 28, 1963). "Memorandum by Taylor, JCS Meetings with the President, 2/63-11/63". Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Clifton Series. Retrieved April 25, 2013. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Norris, Robert S.; Arkin, William M.; Burr, William (January–February 2000). "Where they were, How Much Did Japan Know?". The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 56 (1): 11–13, 78–79. Archived from the original on November 19, 2001. Retrieved November 28, 2014. {{cite journal}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |journal= (help)
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  6. ^ a b Mitchell, Jon (December 4, 2012). "'Were we Marines Used as Guinea Pigs on Okinawa?'". The Japan Times. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
  7. ^ "Pentagon Admits Presence of Lethal Gas on Okinawa". The Morning Record. Meriden-Wallingford, CT. The Associated Press. July 23, 1969.
  8. ^ "Summary of Major Events and Problems: Fiscal Years 1954" (PDF). Maryland: US Army Chemical Corps Historical Office, Army Chemical Center via rockymountainarsenalarchive.wordpress.com blog. 1955. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  9. ^ a b William Burr (April 12, 2013). "Atomic Energy Act Prevents Declassification of Site of 1958 "Broken Arrow" Nuclear Weapons Accident". The National Security Archive, The Gelman Library, George Washington University. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
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  14. ^ a b Wampler, Robert. "State Department Document reveals 'Secret Action Plan' to Influence 1965 Okinawan Elections: MemCon Records Discussion of Funneling Funds to LDP". The National Security Archive, The Gelman Library, George Washington University. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  15. ^ a b c d Steve Rabson (January 14, 2013). "Okinawa's Henoko was a "storage location" for nuclear weapons:". The Asia-Pacific Journal. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  16. ^ Plan to build base off Nago in 1960s got OK by U.S. top brass, document reveals The Japan Times (April 4, 2016); retrieved: December 14, 2016.
  17. ^ "U.S eyed Okinawa for huge offshore base in mid-1960s". japantimes.com. The Japan Times. June 4, 2001. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |uthor= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ Mitchell, Jon (July 8, 2012). "Okinawa's first nuclear missile men break silence". The Japan Times. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  19. ^ George Mindling; Robert Bolton (1 October 2008). U. S. Air Force Tactical Missiles. Lulu.com. pp. 215–. ISBN 978-0-557-00029-6. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  20. ^ a b c "United States Secretly Deployed Nuclear Bombs In 27 Countries and Territories During Cold War". Archived from the original on 2002-08-11. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  21. ^ Mitchell, Jon (June 4, 2013). "'Okinawa bacteria' toxic legacy crosses continents, spans generations". The Japan Times. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  22. ^ Mitchell, Jon (July 20, 2012). ""Seconds Away From Midnight": U.S. Nuclear Missile Pioneers on Okinawa Break Fifty Year Silence on a Hidden Nuclear Crisis of 1962". apjjf.org. Vol. 10, Issue 29, no. 1. The Asia-Pacific Journal. Retrieved March 19, 2017. In 1954, the U.S. brought hydrogen-bomb armed F-100 fighter-bombers to its key hub in the Pacific, Kadena Air Base in Okinawa — the first of thousands of nuclear weapons that it would station on the island before their removal in 1972.
  23. ^ a b c d e "Thunder in the Night, B-52 Crash at Kadena AFB, November 19, 1968, Eyewitnesses Captain Gary Sible, SP5 Tom Madracki, John Logan, et al". Archived from the original on August 24, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2012.[self-published source?]
  24. ^ Smart, Jeffery K. "History of Chemical and Biological Warfare: An American Perspective" (PDF). Retrieved August 29, 2012.
  25. ^ Zajtchuk, Russ; Bellamy, Ronald F. "Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare". Textbook of Military Medicide. Office of The Surgeon General, Department of the Army, United States of America. Retrieved April 5, 2013.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  26. ^ a b c "U.S. Plane Crashes in Okinawa". Pacific Stars and Stripes. Japan. November 19, 1968. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  27. ^ "Bomber Explodes at Kadena". Pacific Stars and Stripes, Okinawa Bureau. Okinawa. November 20, 1968. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  28. ^ a b "Okinawa Asks B-52 Removal". Pacific Stars and Stripes. Japan. November 21, 1968. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  29. ^ a b c d "Nike History, Eyewitness accounts of Timothy Ryan, Carl Durling, and Charles Rudicil". Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  30. ^ "Nike History, The One That Got Away". Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  31. ^ Center for Defense Information (1981). "U.S. Nuclear Weapons Accidents: Danger in our Midst" (PDF). The Defense Monitor. Vol. X, no. 5. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
  32. ^ "Broken Arrow: Goldsboro, NC". ibiblio.org. ibiblio.org. January 24, 2001. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  33. ^ Ed Pilkington (September 20, 2013). "US nearly detonated atomic bomb over North Carolina – secret document". the Guardian. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  34. ^ Tovish, Aaron (October 25, 2015). "The Okinawa Missiles of October". thebulletin.org/. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  35. ^ Schwartz, Jon (October 28, 2015). "How One Air Force Captain Saved The World From Accidental Nuclear War 53 Years Ago Today". theintercept.com. The Intercept. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  36. ^ Tritten, Travis (December 23, 2015). "Cold War Missileers refute Okinawa near-launch". stripe.com. Stars and Stripes. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  37. ^ Broder,John M. (May 9, 1989). "H-Bomb Lost at Sea in '65 Off Okinawa, U.S. Admits". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  38. ^ Washington, D.C.: Washington Post, Reuter, "U.S. Confirms '65 Loss of H-Bomb Near Japanese Islands", Tuesday, 9 May 1989, page A-27.
  39. ^ Washington, D.C.: Washington Post, "Japan Asks Details On Lost H-Bomb", Wednesday, 10 May 1989, page A-35.
  40. ^ Mitchell, Jon (November 11, 2013). "Okinawa: the junk heap of the Pacific; Decades of Pentagon pollution poison service members, residents and future plans for the island". The Japan Times. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  41. ^ a b B-52 Crash at Kadena AFB (Report). November 19, 1968. Retrieved 11 August 2012.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  42. ^ Mitchell, Jon (July 8, 2012). "Okinawa, nuclear weapons and 'Japan's special psychological problem'". japantime.com. The Japan Times. Retrieved March 17, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  43. ^ Ravenstein, Charles A. Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. pp. 31–32. ISBN 0-912799-12-9. and USAF Unit Histories. "9th Airborne Command and Control Squadron" (PDF). ww38.usafunithistory.com. Retrieved 2017-03-26. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
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