Not many of us have been to Greenland. I have. All of 1960. Every damned day.
While many things have changed on the old island since then – up where I was on a mountain top 12 miles from the nearest “civilization” – I’d guess things on that barren spot are still pretty much the same.
In 1960, we didn’t have satellites for any type of communication. We had very spotty telephone access which, most of the time, was reserved for official business.
Where I was – on that mountain top as a USAF non-com living in a U.S. Army Nike Hercules missile outpost – it was lonesome. Damned lonesome.
I was managing an Armed Forces television station. Crew of five. All our programming was on film. All of the typical TV shows of the time – “Have Gun – Will Travel,” “Gunsmoke,” and everything else – all of it was film and about four months behind continental U.S. showings. Even weeks old baseball and football games from the states.
We broadcast 18 hours each day, seven days a week, to the occupants of Thule Air Base about 1,200 feet below. Straight down the mountainside. Our small but trusty transmitter sat at an angle, pointing down into the valley.
There were about a dozen Danish military types on the base. Our connection with the country that owned the place. One of the Danes had a 10-year-old son who spent a few weeks with his Dad during our short Summer.
The Danish commander sent his son up the mountain to spend a couple of days living with us. My instructions for “shepherding” the kid was that he could see any of the sexy materials circulating among the troops. But he was NOT to see any TV show that contained violence of any sort. None!
The geography of Greenland is not welcoming. What isn’t covered by ice and snow is a rocky, gravelly surface which supported virtually no wildlife where I was. We were, after all, within 400 miles of the North Pole.
One of the unusual phenomena was wind. You could tell when conditions were going to change. A strange warming accompanied by soft winds coming off the ice cap.
Then BOOM! Those breezes increased to 150-200 mph straight out into the Bay of Dundas. Anything not anchored down on the base proper – cars/trucks/people – was blown onto the ice in the bay. Or, in the “summertime,” right into the water.
Buildings there were flat-sided aluminum, anchored by “dead men,” very large blocks of cement at the corners. All structures sat on two-foot pilings with a small porch and entry was through large refrigerator-type doors using large crank handles.
Plumbing in the barracks amounted to fresh water hauled by truck up the mountain to fill large, high-mounted tanks using gravity flow. Used water was sent into tanks on the ground which were emptied every few days.
The barracks were about 100 yards from the station, down behind the crest of the mountain. There was a large hawser rope tied to the station and down to a corner of a building in the battery. In times of high – very high – winds, you fastened a strap around your body, hooked onto the hawser and pulled yourself in the desired direction. Often with legs flailing behind you.
The majority of what little population there is in Greenland is on the Southeast side at the Southern end of the island. There are a couple of small towns, with homes and other buildings often painted bright colors. But, for the rest of the Danish county, nothing. No habitation. And, yes, Greenland is a Danish county.
Global warming has kept shipping and whaling activities going almost 12 months of the year. Whaling and fishing are the main economic activities of Greenland. But, its new importance in today’s environment as a strategic military asset means more activity in what is an almost barren land.
Whether that activity is good or bad depends on your point of view.
Looking back, my time in Greenland was interesting. But, I wouldn’t want to do it again. Conditions there can be harsh and unforgiving. Without taking the proper precautions, the environment can be dangerous to your health.
One of the main reasons the military went to Greenland was to put up a “shield,” of sorts, against Soviet missiles coming over the pole. Having seen that “shield” close up, I’m glad the Ruskies never sent a single missile. I doubt that “shield” would have been very effective.
If you have no military or business reason(s) for going there, I’d suggest taking Greenland off your travel plans. It’s just not a place you really want to go.
(image/Ray Swi-hymn from Sijhih-Taipei, Taiwan – 20190626_Harbor_0308, CC BY-SA 2.0,)
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