Did you know there was a missile silo in Van Buren County, Arkansas?
A missile war-head stored there nearly exploded in an accident.
The year was 1980. Now a local school project is underway to celebrate the hero who may have saved the state from a certain catastrophic explosion.
Southside EAST schools in Southside, Arkansas has launched a project to celebrate the brave soldier who lost his life stopping the explosion of a war-head missile in Van Buren County, Arkansas in 1980. Project details were revealed in a recent presentation by the Southside high school student working on the project.
The Southside student, Ben, gave the presentation at the Van Buren County Intergovernmental meeting in Clinton, Arkansas on March 4th, 2025.
There Was A Missile Silo In Arkansas
The missile silo was called the Titan II ICBM 374-7 Missile Complex. It was located near Southside.
Launch Complex 374-7 was situated in Bradley Township, Van Buren County, on farmland 3.3 miles (5.3 km) north-northeast of Damascus and about 50 miles (80 km) north of Little Rock.
Sadly, the location is now private property and closed to the public. But its history is more powerful than ever.
There Was An Explosion In 1980
Senior Airman David Lee Livingston was part of a two-man PTS (Propellant Transfer System) investigation team tasked with entering a missile silo early on September 19. He initially entered the silo but was ordered to evacuate after vapor detectors indicated an explosive atmosphere.
Later, when the team was instructed to reenter the silo to activate an exhaust fan, Livingston was the one who went back inside to carry out the order. Shortly after, around 3:00 a.m., an explosion occurred—likely caused by arcing in the exhaust fan—while he was inside.
According to Ben, the student spearheading the project with EAST program with Southside Schools, gave a presentation about the accident that almost exploded a war-missile revealing how severe that explosion really was:
“At 0300 Hours, a tremendous explosion rocked the area. It blew the 740-ton closure door away from the silo and ejected the second stage warhead out of the silo. Luckily, the warhead did not go off. 21 people were injured.”
Ben talked about how Airman David Livingston made the ultimate sacrifice:
“In this explosion, one member…. went to get readings on the paper, sustained injuries that later proved fatal. The young man was a young Airman Livingston… Airman Livingston was young when he chose to take up the call of duty. They needed someone to volunteer to go in there and get those readings and he stepped up to do it when he was so young.”
Honoring David Livingston
Ben and Southside School wants to honor Livingston.
Ben says David Livingston’s actions prevented the gas from building up in the silo and exploding a warhead, which would have potentially put the entire state of Arkansas at risk:
“He ran back in to turn on the exhaust vents which is what caused the explosion. But Livingston is not at fault for this. Because he really saved Arkansas because if he did not turn on those exhaust vents, they would have built up and exploded the warhead and then there wouldn’t be any Arkansas anymore. So I consider him a true hero of our history.”
They are going to put up an Arkansas Historical Marker in Airman Livingston’s honor. The school has worked to secure grants to even name the nearby road after the fallen hero.
A special dedication ceremony is going to be held on April 11th.
