When I was in grade school we would have air raid drills. This was during the cold war. There was a general fear that Russia would bomb us at any time. This was only fifteen years or so after we had bombed Japan. The devastation caused by those devices was so complete it remained in the country's conscience. The fear was real.
I remember clearly the siren going off and the teacher instructing us to duck and cover. If you were in the classroom you got under your desk. Desks were made a lot better back then and would protect you from a nuclear bomb. No doubt about it. Just make sure you keep your eyes closed.
I was thinking about this the other day. When we were kids they told us all about it. There were civil defense signs on the buildings. We were told that those " commies " might try to bomb us. We had to be ready. Some people even built bomb shelters. I really don't think the majority of the people had any real fear that this would happen. The " shelter builders " were just a few in number proportionately. My own Dad told me that if they dropped one of those on us no shelter was going to help. He hadn't seen it first hand, but had seen the pictures afterward. He was resigned to the fact that if they dropped a bomb on us, we were goners ! Period.
Looking back it is amazing to think that the government endorsed all this. Did the government really believe that those shelters would be of any real practical value ? Or was it an attempt to soothe a nation ? Really, I think it was our government trying to justify our use of such a weapon. Out of guilt we considered the possibility they could be used on us. I think, following the Cuban missile crisis, this kinda changed. I could be wrong because I haven't done any research on this subject but that is my perception. I think once we realized missiles would be used and not dropped bombs we stopped building bomb shelters and hiding under our desks.
It was a different world back then. Political correctness wasn't top priority. We all knew the " commies " were the threat and we said so. The Japanese and Koreans needed watching too. America was the leader and we were right. We all knew that,the world knew that. Try to bomb us and we will hide under our desks,sure. But after, we will come out from there and man are you in trouble !
I remember clearly the siren going off and the teacher instructing us to duck and cover. If you were in the classroom you got under your desk. Desks were made a lot better back then and would protect you from a nuclear bomb. No doubt about it. Just make sure you keep your eyes closed.
I was thinking about this the other day. When we were kids they told us all about it. There were civil defense signs on the buildings. We were told that those " commies " might try to bomb us. We had to be ready. Some people even built bomb shelters. I really don't think the majority of the people had any real fear that this would happen. The " shelter builders " were just a few in number proportionately. My own Dad told me that if they dropped one of those on us no shelter was going to help. He hadn't seen it first hand, but had seen the pictures afterward. He was resigned to the fact that if they dropped a bomb on us, we were goners ! Period.
Looking back it is amazing to think that the government endorsed all this. Did the government really believe that those shelters would be of any real practical value ? Or was it an attempt to soothe a nation ? Really, I think it was our government trying to justify our use of such a weapon. Out of guilt we considered the possibility they could be used on us. I think, following the Cuban missile crisis, this kinda changed. I could be wrong because I haven't done any research on this subject but that is my perception. I think once we realized missiles would be used and not dropped bombs we stopped building bomb shelters and hiding under our desks.
It was a different world back then. Political correctness wasn't top priority. We all knew the " commies " were the threat and we said so. The Japanese and Koreans needed watching too. America was the leader and we were right. We all knew that,the world knew that. Try to bomb us and we will hide under our desks,sure. But after, we will come out from there and man are you in trouble !
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Yep...hide under the desk, or kneel in the hall against the wall, with your hands over your head. That will protect you from all nuclear fallout, and definately keep your skull from being crushed by falling cement and steel beams. What were they thinking?
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