You and me, and everyone you know
Everyone alive on earth today
Owes their existence to a forgotten man
And September 26 is his day
Lt Col Stanislav Petrov
Commanded the Soviet missile response
He was a seasoned professional
He had never fired in anger once
On September 26, 1983
Missile command received an alert
A computer simulation had decided
The Americans were about to hurt
The Motherland, firing a pre-emptive strike
That would land in less than a quarter hour
But Stan had his doubts
He’d seen these alerts before
The simulation prepped the missiles for launch
All they needed was Stan to turn the key
He kept his hand in his pocket
Even after two alerts, then three
He knew the software was buggy at best
And the concept was unproved
He didn’t trust a computer to tell him
Whether or not he could move
The timing was unfortunate
Korean Air 007 had just been shot down
Reagan spoke of the Evil Empire
Washington was a cowboy town
But Stan’s faith in humans
And his disdain for the machine
Gave him the strength and character
To forestall the final scene
You and me, and everyone you know
Everyone alive on earth today
Owes their existence to a forgotten man
And September 26 is his day