A Recruiting Fiasco & a Disaster at Middletown

Today in New Jersey history:

May 22,1846: Governor Charles C. Stratton responded to a request from President Polk with a proclamation calling on “organized uniform companies and other citizens of the state to enroll themselves” in the regiment.  The response was underwhelming as the enthusiasm of Jerseymen for actually fighting in the Mexican War was, as in much of the northeast, minimal. 

May 22, 1958: A disastrous accident at the Middletown, New Jersey Nike antiaircraft missile base ended the lives of six regular army soldiers and four civilian technicians. Eight missiles exploded while being worked on in what was called at the time “the world’s worst missile disaster.”

For more on Nikes in New Jersey and the Middletown explosion, see: 

http://www.hiddenhistoryofnewjersey.com/hhnjaw.htm