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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMiracles Happen: Thank Russian Missile Officer Stanislav Petrov for Your Life Today and the Chance of Another One
This came up over lunch after we had talked about the disaster of the Navy forgetting about the USS Indianapolis for over three days before a patrol plane accidentally came across the few survivors: most having perished from thirst, weakness or being eaten by sharks. Miracles are not something to be relied on.
https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/publications/publications-by-subject/a-grave-misfortune.html
We then moved on to the My Lai massacre where Major Colin Powell first came to favour with the Powers that Be reportedly by, many believe, attempting to make any investigation into the murders go away. Hugh Thompson, the helicopter pilot who is credited with stopping the massacre, rather than finding favour, was subjected to severe (though unofficial) retaliation by the Army and the Nixon Administration. No miracles here eitherexcept for Thompson's courage and humanity.
https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/my-lai-massacre-1
Finally, we talked about the Russian Missile Intercept Command officer who prevented Nuclear War in September 1983 when he *thought* that the radar evidence he saw on his scopes which looked to be a US First Strike might be false.
Therefore he did not immediately notify Chain of Command so that the required immediate ICBM counter strike would likely be launched. Instead, he decided to wait for other radars to confirm the missiles. He likely quite literally Saved the World. Given that he was a Russian Missile officer, I count it as a miracle that he did not follow procedure.
To my embarrassment, I could NOT recall his name: Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov
https://www.amazon.com/Stanislav-Petrov-Saved-World-Great/dp/B0C9SBNVDM
He was, of course, reprimanded.
Let us Hope/Pray/Chant/VOTE for another World Saving Miracle on this 2024 Guy Fawkes Day
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Tweedy
(1,220 posts)That is a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing it.
Rock Fly
(22 posts)Stanislav Petrov saved us at his own expense.
ProfessorGAC
(70,625 posts)...on an episode of History Channel's "What History Forgot".
Otherwise, I never would have heard of this
RJ_MacReady
(448 posts)Has he ever given an interview about this?
Karadeniz
(23,553 posts)and didn't launch a missile.
MLF1981
(211 posts)SorellaLaBefana
(257 posts)![](https://futureoflife.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Arkhipov-young.jpg)
Who, in this picture, looks to be the identical twin of Lt Col Petrov? To me, ears, left eye and width of face do seem different tho? Hopefully no one has been mislabeled! Pictures of them when older look quite different.
https://futureoflife.org/recent-news/55-years-preventing-nuclear-attack-arkhipov-honored-inaugural-future-life-award/
Previously he had saved submarine K-19 from a nuclear meltdownand was exposed to high doses of radiation which likely led to his early death.
https://www.historytools.org/stories/vasili-arkhipov-the-unsung-hero-who-saved-the-world-from-nuclear-annihilation
On October 27 [1962], the Russian sub B-59, which had been running submerged for days, was cornered by 11 US destroyers and the aircraft carrier USS Randolph. The US ships began dropping depth charges around the sub.
The intention wasnt to destroy it but to force it to surface, as US officials had already informed Moscow. But unknown to Washington, the officers aboard B-59 were out of contact with their superiors and had every reason to believe that their American counterparts were trying to sink them
The end in this case meant not just the fate of the submarine and its crew, but potentially the entire world. Cut off from outside contact, buffeted by depth charges, its air conditioning broken, and temperatures and carbon dioxide levels rising in the sub, the most obvious conclusion for the officers of B-59 was that global war had already begun. But the sub had a weapon at its disposal that US officers didnt know about: a 10-kiloton nuclear torpedo. And its officers had permission from their superiors to launch it without confirmation from Moscow
Thankfully, the captain didnt have sole discretion over the launch. All three senior officers had to agree, and Vasili Arkhipov, the 36-year-old second captain and brigade chief of staff, refused to give his assent. He convinced the subs top officers that the depth charges were indeed meant to signal B-59 to surface there was no other way for the US ships to communicate with the Soviet sub and that launching the nuclear torpedo would be a fatal mistake. The sub returned to the surface, headed away from Cuba, and steamed back toward the Soviet Union
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/10/27/23426482/cuban-missile-crisis-basilica-arkhipov-nuclear-war
History is so much more complicated that Jingoists would have one believe. Hopefully we will again survive their lies and false beliefs.