Minuteman III. Beautiful weapon. I had the pleasure of working on them in the 80’s.
Where were you stationed? I was in both Ops and Maintenance at Grand Forks.
Over a decade ago I had a girlfriend in San Jose CA.
I was walking up to her door in the early evening when I looked to the south and saw an enormous plume in the sky. As the plume ascended through the atmosphere it took on all the colors of the rainbow. It was a rainbow of Freedom.
It was awesome. The plume originated at Vandenberg, about 200 miles away. It reminded me of every movie nuclear launch I have ever seen, from the latest Terminator movie to the horrible Miracle Mile.
I felt honored to have witnessed it. It is the only thing I miss about living in CA.