Command and Control

killed more than two million civilians: That is a conservative estimate; the Korean War was especially brutal for noncombatants. According to Dong-Choon Kim, who served as Standing Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Korea, “the percentage of civilian deaths was higher than in any other war of the 20th century.” For the estimate and the quote, see Dong-Choon Kim, “The War Against the ‘Enemy Within’: The Hidden Massacres in the Early Stages of the Korean War,” in Gi-Wook Shin, Soon-Won Park, and Daqing Yang, eds., Rethinking Historical Injustice and Reconciliation in Northeast Asia: The Korean Experience (New York: Routledge, 2007), p. 75.

“prevent premature detonation”: “Final Evaluation Report, MK IV MOD O FM Bomb,” “The Mk IV Evaluation Committee, Sandia Laboratory, Report No. SL-82, September 13, 1949 (SECRET/RESTRICTED DATA/declassified), p. 60.

“integrated contractor complex”: See Furman, Sandia National Laboratories, pp. 310–12.

In Violation

Jeff Kennedy had just gotten home: Interview with Jeffrey Kennedy.

Kennedy thought, “Wow”: Ibid.

“Commander, if you want to tell me how to do my job”: Quoted in ibid.

Sandaker was a twenty-one-year-old PTS technician: Interview with James Sandaker.

“Well, I got to go”: Ibid.

“All right,” Sandaker said: Ibid.

“baby oil trailer”: See “Report, Major Missile Accident, Titan II Complex 374-7,” Statement of Archie G. James, Staff Sergeant, Tab U-42, p. 1.

“Tell it not to land”: Holder interview.

“Jeff, I fucked up like you wouldn’t believe”: Quoted in Kennedy interview.

“Oh, David,” Kennedy said: Ibid.

Sam Hutto’s family had farmed the same land: Interview with Sam Hutto.

“We went into, through, and out of the Depression”: Quoted in ibid.

the Air Force provided few additional details: Interview with Robert Lyford, Governor Bill Clinton’s liaison to various state agencies, including the Department of Emergency Services and the Department of Public Safety. See also “Missile Fuel Leaks; 100 Forced to Leave Area Near Arkansas,” Arkansas Gazette, September 19, 1980; Tyler Tucker, “Officials Had No Early Knowledge of Missile Explosion, Tatom Says,” Arkansas Democrat, September 25, 1980; and Carol Matlock, “Air Force Listens to Complaints, Says Notification Was Adequate,” Arkansas Gazette, September 25, 1980.

about fifty thousand gallons of radioactive water leaked: Cited in “Arkansas Office of Emergency Services, Major Accomplishments During 1979–1980,” Attachment 1, Highlights of Response to Emergencies in 1980.

Bill Clinton was an unlikely person: For a good sense of America’s youngest governor in 1980, see David Maraniss, First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), pp. 352–86; Bill Clinton, My Life (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004), pp. 254–89; and Phyllis Finton Johnston, Bill Clinton’s Public Policy for Arkansas: 1979–1980, (Little Rock, AR: August House, 1982).

“tall, handsome, a populist-liberal”: Quoted in Wayne King, “Rapidly Growing Arkansas Turns to Liberal Politicians,” New York Times, May 14, 1978.

“He was a punk kid with long hair”: Quoted in Roger Morris, Partners in Power: The Clintons and Their America (New York: Henry Holt, 1999), p. 218.

“the Three Beards”: See Maraniss, First in His Class, pp. 364–65.

“Captain Mazzaro, we have to get that propane tank”: Kennedy interview.

“Stay here”: Quoted in Powell interview.

“Hell no”: Ibid.

“I’ll give you three minutes”: Ibid.

“There’s not enough room for two people”: Quoted in ibid.

“Oh, God”: Quoted in Kennedy interview.

“Sir, this is what the tank readings are”: Kennedy interview and “Report, Major Missile Accident, Titan II Complex 374-7,” Kennedy statement, Tab U-46, p. 4.

“Where in hell did you get those?”: “Report, Major Missile Accident, Titan II Complex 374-7,” Statement of James L. Morris, Colonel, Tab U-60, p. 1.

Megadeath

Fred Charles Iklé began his research: Interview with Fred Charles Iklé. For his early work on the subject, see Fred C. Iklé, “The Effect of War Destruction upon the Ecology of Cities,” Social Forces, vol. 29, no. 4 (May 1951), pp. 383–91: and Fred C. Iklé, “The Social Versus the Physical Effects from Nuclear Bombing,” Scientific Monthly, vol. 78, no. 3 (March 1954), pp. 182–87.

killed about 3.3 percent of Hamburg’s population: Cited in Fred Charles Iklé, The Social Impact of Bomb Destruction (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1958), p. 16.

destroyed about half of its homes: Cited in ibid.

“A city re-adjusts to destruction”: Ibid., p. 8.

British planners had assumed that for every metric ton: For the lethal efficiencies of Second World War bombing, see ibid., pp. 17–18.

Iklé devised a simple formula: For the calculations on the relationship between bomb destruction and population loss, see ibid., pp. 53–56.

“the fully compensating increase in housing density”: Ibid., p. 55.

when about 70 percent of a city’s homes were destroyed: Ibid., p. 72.