Civil Defense

A Familiar Sound in the Sixties

    Post War America found itself in a fierce competition for world supremacy with Russian Communism.  Monthly drills acquainted us with the sounds of air raid sirens.

     Schools regularly ran air raid drills, and students crouched under their desks.  The possibility of war was so real that In 1961, Life Magazine ran a special issue with plans for construction of a bomb shelter in your back yard. Included in the issue, was a letter from President Kennedy, asking us to be prepared.

     "I used to live 4 blocks from a Nike missile site.  We would watch the sky light up when there were tests.  As kids it was thrilling to watch the silos open and see the rockets rise up on their launchers."  We knew so little of the dangers of nuclear war, that we foolishly stocked our basement, not realizing that we were at a targeted ground zero.

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