Soldier's actions prevented WWIII

On Sept. 26, 1983, Stanislav Petrov, a high ranking Soviet military commander of the USSR early warning and attack initiation center, took another man’s shift.

He was the guy who pushes the button and starts World War III from Russia if their systems register a missile launch from America.

That day their radar indicated five American missile launches aimed at Moscow. According to their protocol he didn’t have a choice except to launch their missiles. Stanislav had a gut feeling, why only five missiles.

This was just a few weeks after Russian fighters shot down one of our airliners with more than 200 lost. So against all rules, he stated it was a false alarm and he and all those in the bunker anxiously waited the 15 minutes it would take for the missiles to arrive. Nothing happened, it was a radar problem.

In 2004 the “World Citizens” group recognized Stanislav with an award for saving the world.

So, on this day it’s probably reasonable to stop and be grateful that we have our loved ones, families and homes and a planet to live on.

JERRY LUTHER

Sagle