Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Military B17 & NIKE Missile

Hello Shrap
That first picture is of post 2 or Bravo Command. It was the last stop before someone went into the Exclusion Area. I spent a lot of time in that guard shack. When I wasn't walking around a missile section I was working out of that building.

You probably met one of the guys I was stationed with. He moved back to Alaska in the late 1970's and spent 32 years working for the USGS. He is in the picture with me in the middle. The other guy is from Yakima Washington. He grew up in Selah and was the next-door neighbor to my step grandfather's sister. We didn't know this until we got to talking about family one day and the names all came up.

Both Marvin and Greg walked up to the IFC/barracks building in 1983 and found the building to be in a very sad state. Ft. Richardson tore the IFC/barracks down in the early 2000's as I recall. Greg decided to try to save what is left and aligned himself up with the Alaska Historical Society. They agreed to take on the project of saving what is left. It appears the US Army uses the site for some kind of training as there was loads of blank .223 and 7.62 brass on the ground. We had to clear Range Control before we could go up.

The railroad tie guard shack out in the roadway was commissioned by one of the Commanders. His name was B.C. Jolly. Cpt. Jolly was a grunt in Viet Nam and then he returned to Viet Nam after getting a commission as a helicopter pilot. He survived that and in order to stay in the Army he took a job as a Nike Hercules Officer. He retired as an LTC and supposedly went to work at Anchorage P.D. He was seriously hurt and partially paralyzed in a snow mobile accident sometime while working for APD. He is now deceased. That guard shack is a testament to Cpt Jolly and his respect for those of us on the Security team. All of the members of the Security team put an effort into building that guard shack. I'm glad it's still standing.

In the first picture I was standing in what was the mess hall and took the shot looking pretty much north toward Wasilla. The second picture is Cpt Jolly's guard shack.

Yes, it's sad to see it's current condition. I can only guess that some day Ft. Richardson will forever end any visits to the site. All I know is that at one time it was my home and it was just another adventure I took in my youth. For a couple of hours on July 20th I was 21 years old and I was re-living that adventure. I hope to see it again before my demise.

kwg