The toadies you refer to would include the entire crew of some
Naval vessel. As I recall, you were an Air Force crypto tech. Would
you and your buddies in the Air Force have agreed to keep a secret
equivalent to a shoot-down of this flight? I know my buddies at
the Army communications center (I was an E5, MOS was 72F) would not.
Why do you think the crew of that ship would keep quiet? These
young sailors are fundamentally the same type of guys as you and I
were at that age. (Well, OK, I admit that sailors are different, but
not that way.)
Sailors are young americans that are not much different from
other young americans. This also applies to junior officers. If a
missle have been fired from a ship that night, at least some of
these guys would have seen it, and at least some "sea stories"
would have leaked.
Senior enlisted people and officers are somewhat older americans
who aren't all that much different from other americans of the
same age. You may argue that these guys have chosen to be
facist oppressive Statists. It's possible that some match
that description, but not the ones I've met.