In the 1960s and early 1970s, you didn’t have to go all the way to Cape Canaveral to see rockets.
You could drive down Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando and glance at the front of the Orlando Sentinel’s building.
There, standing guard for Orlando, were three big (and deactivated) Cold War weapons: a 35-foot-tall Pershing I missile, a 19-foot-long, four-winged Army Lacrosse missile and a 10-foot-long Navy Bullpup missile.
The missiles, produced by Orlando’s Martin Co. (now Lockheed Martin) were presented to the Sentinel in February 1962 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The display was billed as a tangible symbol of “Central Florida ingenuity and skill in the national defense effort.”
Florida U.S. Sen. George Smathers was on hand as well as representatives from the Martin Co., the Army, the Navy and the VFW as the missiles were presented to the Sentinel.
“We have to build these kind of things, in the hope that we will never have to use them,” Smathers said. “The whole purpose is not to build the economy of Central Florida, but to keep the peace.”
The rockets stood in front of the Sentinel’s building for nearly 10 years, being removed in December 1971 and given to local VWF Post 4287.
Coverage of the Martin Co. missiles being removed from the Orlando Sentinel in December 1971. (Orlando Sentinel File)