John Erickson

One of the many stories about John Erickson is of him finding out in Moscow during the Cold War years that a new journal on nuclear strategy was being published there. He asked if he could take a look at it. No, he was told, sorry, it’s classified, but we do send a copy to the Pentagon. Why don’t you ask about it there? This he duly did on his next visit to Washington, and received the same answer – sorry, it’s classified. But he persisted and did get permission to see the journal after all.