This book tells the story of a B-36 crew, flying countless training missions while carrying full-sized 8,500-pound mock nuclear weapons in their bomb bays. B-36 crews trained for the one flight when they would be ordered to drop combat nuclear bombs on the USSR. Flights of fifteen hours over continental United States to grueling thirty-hour nonstop flights overseas were routine, all without the benefit of in-flight refuelingnot yet invented. The experiences of this crew, as they flew their assigned missions, are part of the history of our nations defense. They were part of our Cold War Shield.