On Monday morning, I saw the rays of the rising sun hit the
snow-capped summit of Mount Umunhum. This prominent peak in the
Santa Cruz mountains is crowned with a striking structure, a
five-story building called
”
the cube
”
that served as a U.S. Air Force radar monitoring station from
1957 to 1980.
On Monday morning, I saw the rays of the rising sun hit the snow-capped summit of Mount Umunhum. This prominent peak in the Santa Cruz mountains is crowned with a striking structure, a five-story building called “the cube” that served as a U.S. Air Force radar monitoring station from 1957 to 1980. Its dish scanned the skies for Soviet bombers carrying atomic bombs toward American borders during the Cold War.
Back in my college years, I took a drive in my Toyota Celica through the Santa Cruz mountain back roads to discover what was up there. That rainy afternoon, I happened to follow one redwood-tree lined road to the top of a peak. At the end of the road, I drove up to an imposing gate which had placed on it warning signs describing in no uncertain terms that I would be shot if I tried to pass that point. Needless to say, I immediately turned around and found a friendlier road. That was the closest I ever got to the now derelict radar monitoring site.
The 3,486-foot high Mount Umunhum was named for the Ohlone Indian phrase “place where the hummingbird rests.” It was purchased in 1986 by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, and remains off limits to the public because of asbestos, lead paint and other toxic materials that pollute the site from Air Force days. About 80 buildings still remain where military personnel and their families lived. The 1950s-era structures form a ghost town that’s now crumbling. The cube’s radar dish is long gone.
In 2009, U.S. representatives Mike Honda and Zoe Lofgren got Congress to provide $3.2 million in funding to clean up Mount Umunhum’s former Air Force base. Another $10 million is needed to make the site safe for visitors. But with the recent budget cutting in Washington, D.C., “earmark” funding has dried up. It would be nice if the remaining millions might be provided by private or corporate sources. No doubt many people would love to enjoy the views of the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean from the Santa Cruz Mountains’ fourth highest peak.
Gazing at the cube on Mount Umunhum on Monday morning, I pondered its importance in protecting America during the Cold War. One day, when the site is opened to the public, perhaps visitors could learn about those dark decades in a small museum at the site – perhaps located inside the “cube” structure itself.
The museum could feature displays and personal videotaped remembrances that explain to visitors the mountain’s importance in protecting American citizens during much of the second half of the 20th century. But I’d also like to see the entire Cold War put into perspective in that museum. As far as I know, the United States does not have a Cold War Museum. Over time, this dangerous period of history will start fading from common memory – and we might forget the lessons we learned from it.
The Cold War Museum displays could start with the American bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which heralded the end of the global conflict of World War II and ushered in the atomic age. The obliteration of those two Japanese cities signaled the start of the Cold War. For the first time in history, humans had the technology to destroy their planet – if they foolishly decided to do so.
The displays would also include an explanation of the Iron Curtain that divided Europe for many decades. The Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan would also be included. The museum might also discuss the “Red Scare” of the 1950s led by Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who claimed communist infiltration in virtually every segment of American society – including Hollywood, the White House and the U.S. Army.
Another display at the Mount Umunhum Cold War Museum could enlighten visitors about the launch by the Soviets of the Sputnik satellite in October 1957. Sputnik goaded American leaders to pass the National Defense Education Act of 1957, improving U.S. math and science skills. America’s embarrassment after Sputnik also encouraged us to develop our own space-bound rockets, leading to astronauts landing on the moon 12 years later. It also prompted the development of the Internet (through the Defense Department’s ARPANET program) as well as communication and GPS satellites, advanced computers and many other high-tech gadgets. New industries and a new digital age economy were created and shaped by the Cold War.
Today’s Silicon Valley – and our modern global civilization – rose out of the military and economic competition stimulated by the Cold War. But those days are now past. A new day dawns on the world – as well as the snow-capped peak of Mount Umunhum.
