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Frank StantonFrank Stanton
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Session:         Page of 755

Q:

I don't think you actually have talked about this. I may be wrong --

Stanton:

Well, let's see if I can remember -- I know it spoiled a weekend for me here in New York. George Kistiakowsky, who was a science advisor to Eisenhower, convened a group of top level members of the scientific community. Why the dickens I was in the group I don't recall. I was glad to have been included, because, like a fly on the wall, I could listen and watch and it was helpful to me to have some ideas about what was going on that the people at News didn't know about, because they always thought they knew everything. Occasionally, these special assignment things that I had gave me insights I couldn't refer to, but I could ask questions, and these guys would say: “What's wrong with the old man? He's gone off the rocker.” Then something three months later would surface, and they would say, “Oh, that's what you were talking about. How did you know this?” So, I had a lot of fun, I enjoyed it. But, I remember Friendly and Murrow did “The Biography of a Missile.” This was back in the early days of ICBMs, and at one of these Kistiakowsky sessions, George turned -- It was a long table and he was sitting almost across from me -- he turned to me and said something about the fact that -- “and that's why Ike wouldn't approve your people getting into the silo.” Nobody knew what he was talking about, I didn't know what he was talking about, but I certainly made a mental note of it, went back and called in Friendly. I knew they were doing “The Biography of a Missile,” I didn't know what that was leading them into. But, one of the things they wanted to do was to be in the blockhouse at the time the missile was fired, and they wanted to record the sound and, if possible, record the picture of what was going on in a way that would not reveal anything that was classified but, on the other hand, would give an authenticity to the documentary. This was part of what was called “See It Now.” I knew they were doing this, but I didn't know they were trying to get into the blockhouse, and I certainly found out by the fact that Kistiakowsky banged my toe for





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