OFFICE of CIVIL DEFENSE PROPAGANDA 1950 - 60's

1962 NASSAU COUNTY CIVIL DEFENSE

NEW YORK FEMA TARGET LISTING 1990 NYS INFO

Nuclear Threats in
New York The purpose of this page (in a post-nuclear situation) will be to map out any targets in the state that were actually nuked. At the bottom of this page is the 1990 FEMA nuclear target map for New York. It was just a conceptual map about the nuclear threat. Even an all-out nuclear war - did not by any means mean that every site would be hit. For some states VERY FEW and POSSIBLY / PROBABLY NONE of the sites will be hit but others may have some very significant targets. Because circumstances have changed since 1990 some of the targets in many of the maps should be removed and possibly there are others that should be added.
Besides nuclear weapons there can be various radiological and other weapon hazards within your state and radiological threats may come from outside your state.
1. Nuclear power plants (think Chernoybl) for one. When the power, technology and personnel may not be available to maintain the plants - there is no telling what may happen to / with them.

2. The same applies to the storage of used nuclear fuel which presently has to be kept cooled and maintained .3. Then there might somewhere be a stockpile of nuclear weapons. 4. Storage concerns should not be with just nuclear weapons but also with biological and chemical weapons. 5. There may just be hazardous stores of industrial chemicals that are no longer being maintained and protected. 6. There can be armories and warehouses of weapons and explosives that could fall into dangerous hands. 7. Whatever may be added to this list - needs to be identified and dealt with.

The following is a conceptual map of how a nuclear event one place in the US can affect other localities. This map is based upon past prevailing wind patterns but in the expected catastrophic events they may be much different from this.

Fallout Pattern Map for US (FEMA 212/September 1990)
For the same reasons as fallout from power plants located elsewhere - fallout can come to your state from nuclear targets elsewhere. For this reason here is a map of all the targets that FEMA visualized in the US in 1990. In reality we should be showing nuclear targets throughout the world - because nuclear fallout can go anywhere in the world.

Nuclear Weapon Target Map for US (FEMA /September 1990)
And we haven't even mentioned EMP. Weapons exploded at high altitude for the sole purpose of creating EMP could turn off the lights in America. Permanently. Or in any case it could take a very long time to turn them back on - if you can imagine life without electricity.

EMP - Turning off the lights in America
Nuclear Weapon Target Map for New York (FEMA-196/September 1990)
Nuclear Power in New York (FEMA-196/September 1990)

SHOREHAM NUCLEAR POWER PLANT NO LONGER EXSISTS IT RAN FOR A MONTH WAS DECLARED OBSOLETE ITs NUCLEAR FUEL WAS SHIPPED VIA BARGE TO SAVANNAH RIVER AND THE REST FOLLOWED THAT WAS CONTAMINATED.
THEY AUCTIONED OFF EVERYTHING THE LIGHTING COMPANY THAT BUILT IT WAS TAKEN OVER BY THE STATE RIGHT AFTER ALL THIS AND THE TAX PAYERS AND LIGHTING BILLS ARE PAYING FOR THE MISTAKE OF BUILDING A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT ON LONG ISLAND
7 miles south is the REACTOR At BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LAB THE VERY PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE ATOMIC TESTS IN THE PACIFIC/AND OTHER SHOTS AND THE EXPERIMENTATION  OF RADIATION ON AGRICULTURE AND HUMANS THE REACTOR HAS RELEASED RADIATION INTO THE SURROUNDING WATERWAYS AND UNDERGROUND AQUIFER THAT HOLDS SUFFOLK COUNTY'S DRINKING WATER THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS RADIATION RELEASES AND ACCIDENTS OVER THE YEARS AND A VERY HIGH CANCER RATE LOCALLY AND LONG ISLAND HAS THE HIGHEST RATE OF BREAST CANCER IN THE COUNTRY THE LAB DENIES ANY INVOLVEMENT BUT HUGE SWATHES OF WOODS WERE SPRAYED WITH ARTIFICIAL FALLOUT AND MONITORED FOR EXPERIMENTS AS WELL AS TOWERS WITH BOXES HOLDING LARGE AMOUNTS OF HIGHLY RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL SETUP ON THE LABS PROPERTY IN THESE TESTS TO SIMULATE FALLOUT ON VEGETATION PROBABLY THE ANIMALS THAT LIVE AROUND THE LAB WERE EXPOSED SINCE LARGE AMOUNTS OF DEER ROAM FREELY THROUGH THESE AREAS.

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1957 EVACUATION VIA THE LONG ISLAND EXPRESSWAY...IMAGINE!

NEWSDAY SEPTEMBER 1 1957, SPECIAL EDITION SUFFOLK

THIS VERY WELL COULD OF BEEN, KNOWING THE EXTENT OF IMPORTANCE LONG ISLAND WAS DURING THE COLD WAR AND THE PROXIMITY TO NYC AND HIGH VALUE TARGETS.ONCE UPON A TIME THE NEW YORK / LONG ISLAND AREA WAS PROBABLY THE BIGGEST MANUFACTURING ZONE IN THE UNITED STATES MAKING JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING ,IT HAD PORTS ALONG THE BROOKLYN QUEENS WATERFRONT AND ITS AIRPORTS HANDLED LARGE AMOUNTS OF CARGO, THERE WAS EVEN A THRIVING RAIL FREIGHT SYSTEM IN PLACE, THESE THINGS NO LONGER EXIST AND MOST OF IT WAS ABANDONED AND RAZED AND MALLS FILLED WITH CRAP IMPORTED FROM CHINA STAND IN THEIR PLACE.

ATOMIC KNICK KNACKS A SIGN OF THE FUTURE

AMERICAN INGENUITY

FALLOUT SHELTERS FOR THE MOST PART ARE GONE OR NEVER WERE THE ONLY REMINDERTO THIS ERA ARE THE WEATHER WORN SIGNS THAT ADORN BUILDINGS AROUND THE US, NYC SHELTERS ARE NO LONGER USED OR FUNDED BUT THEY STILL EXSIST IN SOME AREAS AND ARE STOCKED, I HAVE SEEN SUPERS OF BUILDINGS CLEANING OUT CIVIL DEFENSE SURVIVAL FOOD WATER DRUMS. MEDICAL KITS ETC IF YOU SEE A SIGN ON A BUILDING AND ARE INTERESTED IN SHELTERS CHECK THE BASEMENT YOU MAY FIND A STOCKED SHELTER. 

IS THIS THE DIGITAL AGE FALLOUT SHELTER SIGN?

USAF SHIELD OF FREEDOM (1963) USAF ADC PUBLIC PROPAGANDA

 SHIELD OF FREEDOM IS A 1960 CIVILIAN PROPAGANDA  FILM EXPLAINING THE ROLE OF THE USAF - Air Defense Command A MISSION LASTING OVER 30 YEARS WHEN IT WAS THOUGHT THAT NUCLEAR WEAPONS BEING USED BY ENEMY FORCES WOULD COME VIA BOMBER, AN ELABORATE NETWORK OF USAF BASES AND SITES THAT WERE OPERATING AS RADAR, BOMARC MISSILES ARMED WITH 12 kt WARHEADS FOR ANTI AIRCRAFT PROTECTION,"ADC" JET INTERCEPTORS IDLING IN ALERT BARNS ON AIR BASES  SPREAD AROUND THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES, THE CONTINUOUS  VIGILANCE WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS BEING CARRIED IN LONG RANGE JET BOMBERS THAT FLEW 365 DAYS 24 HRS  A DAY NO HOLIDAYS OFF,JET  TANKERS REFUELING THE VARIOUS BOMBERS SO THEY COULD DELIVER THEIR PAYLOADS A VERY IMPORTANT MISSION  TO KEEP THE BOMBERS FLYING AND WITH ENOUGH FUEL TO MAKE IT BACK, ORDERS CARRIED INSIDE A SAFE INSIDE THE COCKPITS OF B-52s, B47s, B48 HUSTLERS DESCRIBING WHAT SOVIET TARGETS THEY WERE TO TAKE OUT IF THEY WERE ORDERED IN,AND A AIRBORNE COMMAND POST  "NEACP" (NATIONAL EMERGENCY AIRBORNE COMMAND POST) CARRYING A GENERAL AND BATTLE STAFF WITH LAUNCH CODES HIGH TECH COMMUNICATION ABILITIES.  ABLE TO STAY ALOFT FOR 72 HOURS BEFORE HAVING TO LAND IN CASE OF AN ATTACK BY SOVIET FORCES  THAT SURPRISED THE MASSIVE FORCE THAT PROTECTED THE (CONUS) CONTINENTAL U.S. THE ABOVE ASSETS  ALONG WITH THE AIRBORNE CONTROL POST WOULD FIGHT WORLD WAR 3 FROM 8 OR MORE MILES ABOVE THE THE HELLFIRES FROM INCINERATED CITIES BELOW ,PERHAPS THIS WAS THE BIGGEST EFFORT OF ALL TIME TO PLAN FOR WAR COSTING TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND THEIR WAS NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT, AND THIS WAS JUST OPERATING COSTS TO DETER ATTACK, LASTLY TO NOT  FORGET THE EARLY ICBMS OF THESE TIMES WITH USAF MISSILEERS AWAITING LAUNCH CODES HUNDREDS OF FEET BELOW GROUND, AS ELECTRONICS AND SCIENCE GREW MOST OF OUR DETERRENTS WERE OBSOLETE SINCE A SUBMARINE OFF OUR COASTLINE COULD INCINERATE MOST OF THE UNITED STATES IN UNDER A HALF HOUR, MISSILES IN PROTECTIVE SILOS WITH MULTIPLE WARHEADS COULD BE LAUNCHED AND FORGOT AS COMPUTERS ABOARD THESE ROCKETS GUIDED THEM TO THEIR SOVIET TARGETS AND AS THESE MISSILES APPROACHED THE SOVIET UNION THE WARHEAD WOULD OPEN AND RELEASE OTHER WARHEADS WITH DIFFERENT TARGETS THAT FOR THE MOST PART ARE INVINCIBLE, AT TIMES THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK WAS SET TO SOMEWHERE LIKE 1 MINUTE OR LESS TILL MIDNIGHT DENOTING HOW CLOSE TO A NUCLEAR CONFLAGRATION THE WORLD WAS. TODAY THE USAF NUCLEAR WINGS COMPRISED OF ICBMS SPREAD OUT AMONG THE PRAIRIES OF NEBRASKA, N. DAKOTA,& KANSAS ALONG WITH OUR NUCLEAR POWERED SUBS ABLE TO STAY UNDETECTED AS LONG AS PROVISIONS LAST ARE THE NUCLEAR HAMMER, AS TIME EVOLVED A NEW KIND OF WAR BEGAN ON A BEAUTIFUL SEPTEMBER DAY IN NEW YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, WASHINGTON DC. A WAR THAT THESE WEAPONS CAN NOT FIGHT OR DETER SINCE THE ENEMY OPERATES IN SMALL GROUPS AND FIGHTS LIKE A COWARD. THEY ARE CALLED TERRORISTS AND UNLIKE THE COLD WAR OUR ENEMY LIVES AMONG US, PLOTTING, WAITING, READY TO KILL INNOCENTS, 

THESE PLACES WERE  DECOMMISSIONED AND RAZED ALMOST IN A ATTEMPT TO HIDE THE MADNESS OF THIS ERA IN AMERICAN HISTORY. THEY DO NOT EXIST AS MUCH AS THE MEN AND WOMEN IN THE ADC WERE THE LAST HOPE BETWEEN A ENEMY ATTACK ON OUR NATION, THEIR WAR WAS CALLED "THE COLD WAR" DO NOT BE FOOLED IT WAS ANYTHING BUT COLD AND THE FACT WE MADE IT THROUGH THIS ERA IS TESTAMENT TO DETERRENCE AND THE FACT WE WOULD USE THESE WEAPONS WITHOUT  A THOUGHT WAS BACKED UP BY OUR BOMBING OF JAPAN WITH TWO NUCLEAR DEVICES AND IF WE HAD THEM A LITTLE EARLIER EUROPE WOULD STILL BE GLOWING.

POST NUCLEAR ATTACK PROPAGANDA "THE SCRIPT" (1963)

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WAS TO BE USED AFTER A NUCLEAR ATTACK AND BROADCASTED ON ANY AVAILABLE RADIO STATION AVAILABLE THE SCRIPT TO BE READ TO SURVIVORS IS UNLIKELY TO HAVE BEEN HEARD SINCE MOST RADIO STATIONS WOULD BE LOCATED IN THE VAPORIZED AREAS OF CITIES THEY SERVED. THIS BIT OF CIVIL DEFENSE PROPAGANDA CAN BE READ NOW WITHOUT HAVING TO LISTEN TO IT IN A CRAMPED SHELTER ON A TRANSISTOR RADIO WHILE NUCLEAR FUELED FIRES RAGED OUTSIDE UNABATED.THE ENTIRE MANUAL CAN BE READ JUST BY CLICKING ON IT,REMEMBER THIS PLAN WAS CONFIDENTIAL AT ONE TIME AND SHOWS HOW NAIVE WE WERE TO A POST ATTACK ENVIROMENT

WARNING RED -MARYLANDS ATOMIC ATTACK CD PROPAGANDA(1956)

My shelter was just finished a couple of days ago. I thought people would laugh, so I kept it quiet.”

--Mrs. Gray, dowager / civil defense savior in the short film Warning Red

Warning Red (1956) portrays the atomic odyssey of suburbanite Martin Dale who, while on his way home from buying some ice cream, sees the bright flash of the Bomb. Once he gets up from the rubble and puts on his charred fedora, the thirteen-minute film moves forward with its agenda to convey all of the clichéd civil defense lessons about remaining in one’s shelter, avoiding contaminated food and staying tuned to CONELRAD. Of course, Mr. Dale ignores most of these rules (“It’s my life I’m risking, I don’t care!” he declares at one point to a tired survivor) by running through the fallout and fire-filled streets trying to find his family. 

During Dale’s journey—that seems to take less than five minutes of dramatic time—he encounters a stunned family sitting at a table by candlelight, a man cooking milk on an open fire and a psychotic woman trying to give her baby away. He finds his beloved wife, Karen, and son, Davey, when his older neighbor, Mrs. Gray, appears out of nowhere and leads him and his radioactive clothes into her secret (and giant) bomb shelter. There the Dale family is happily reunited while Mrs. Gray cradles the crazy woman’s infant

The official coda to the movie is that “You will have a greater chance of survival in an enemy attack or natural disaster if you know what to do…To learn how you can best protect yourself and your family in such an emergency, contact your nearest Civil Defense Office.” The unofficial coda to the movie is that these civil defense-loving survivors will soon be eating ice cream again (even if the scoop girl who so brazenly ignored the CONELRAD alert in the first minutes of the film is probably dead).

CD Movie Made in Olney

Warning Red Stars Local Talent, Sites

Twenty Sandy Spring area residents will get a chance to see how they look in the movies tomorrow evening, when “Warning Red,” a Civil Defense Administration motion picture filmed in Montgomery County, has its national premiere at the Viers Mill Theater.

Most of the sequences in “Warning Red” were made at the Olney CD facility and the majority of the cast are members of the Sandy Spring Group, all amateur actors.

The premiere of the film at 8:30 tomorrow evening will have a dash of Hollywood—floodlights bathing the front of the theater, officials of local and Washington Civil Defense offices and the Sherwood High Schoolband.

Joseph Cunningham, a Washington businessman who lives with his wife and three children at Spencerville, stars in the movie.

He appears as a typical suburban homeowner, searching for his family among the flames, smoke and debris that follow an enemy air attack. The film illustrates the things one should do and not do in such a situation.

Other members of the cast include Mrs. James Anderson, Phillip Boyd Martin, Mrs. Mildred Dowd, Mrs. Mary Reading Miller, Fred Joiner, James Sanders, Robert Miller, Rev. David L. Watterworth, Mrs. Marion Sanders, Melvin Scheidt, Mrs. Julia Bailey, Bonnie Bonifant, Elizabeth Cunningham, Richard Cunningham, Elizabeth Anderson, Sam Bailey, Bill Bailey, Sari Hines and Alan Johnston.

“Warning Red” was directed by Nicholas Webster of Manassas, Va., who has won several Hollywood awards for his direction of documentary films.

It was produced for the Civil Defense Administration by Phillip [sic] Martin, of Norwood Studios. Mr. Martin is a former associate producer and film editor for several major Hollywood studios. He won an Academy Award in 1947 for the year’s best short subject, “The House I Live In.”

F. William Hart was assistant producer, and the script was by Kirby Hawkes. The motion picture was produced with the facilities of Capital Film Studios of Washington.

Source: Montgomery County Sentinel, page C8, January 19, 1956

Thanks to Bill Geerhart for the posting which can be found at "CONELRAD ADJACENT" the Blog of the guide to the atomic age CONELRAD.COM Check it out!!!

THE F-102/106s ALL WEATHER, CENTURY SERIES EARLY ADC FIGHTER, INTERCEPTORS, PART OF SUFFOLK COUNTY AFB 1950s-1960s

  SUFFOLK COUNTY AFB

F-102 AND F-106

EARLY INTERCEPT AIRCRAFT 

F-102 DAGGER F-106 DART

THE ROLE OF THE AIR DEFENSE COMMAND MISSION DURING THE LATE 1950s 1960s

"SEEK ATTACK DESTROY"

MOTTO OF THE 52nd FIGHTER INTERCEPTOR WING STATIONED AT SUFFOLK COUNTY AFB

HERE AT SUFFOLK COUNTY AFB LONG ISLAND AN OPEN HOUSE LETS THE PUBLIC GET UP CLOSE TO THE F-102 NOTE THE HIGH VIS ORANGE ON THE TIPS OF THE AIRCRAFT DENOTING THAT IT IS ON ALERT AND A ARMED MILITARY JET AIRCRAFT THAT IS PART OF THE US MILITARYs DEFENSE FORCES OF THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES,  FROM ALL ENEMIES FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC.

HERE A F-106 DELTA DART ON THE FLIGHTLINE IS BEING LOOKED OVER BY THE PUBLIC WHILE IN THE BACKGROUND F-101 VOODOO's ARE PARKED READY TO TAKE ON THE ROLE OF THE MAIN INTERCEPT AIRCRAFT FOR SUFFOLK

A RARE 1960s SHOT OF A F-102 DELTA DAGGER TAKEN ON THE RUNWAY BY THE PILOT AT SUFFOLK COUNTY AIR FORCE BASE

 HERE THE F-106 DELTA DART SITS IN A RELAXED STATE BUT READY TO GO IF NEEDED AT SUFFOLK COUNTY AFBs OPEN HOUSE

THE F-102 DELTA DAGGER FROM A DIFFERENT VIEW THE USAFs FIRST ALL WEATHER FIGHTER/INTERCEPTOR THOUGH IT HAD PROBLEMS IT IS A AERODYNAMIC SHAPE AND QUITE QUICK AND SMOOTH PREVIOUS FIGHTER INTERCEPTORS AT SUFFOLK CO. AFB WERE THE SUPER SABRE F-86 AND THE REPUBLIC F-80 SERIES




TO SEE F-102s THAT WERE PART OF THE NEW YORK AIR NATIONAL GUARD STATIONED AT THE FORMER SUFFOLK COUNTY AFB NOW CALLED "GABRESKI AIRPORT" AFTER THE COMMANDER OF THE 52nd FIS DURING SUFFOLK AFBs COLD WAR YEARS, THESE F-102s ARE PAINTED GREY AND NOT THE SHINY ALUMINUM LIKE THE 1960s AND ALSO TWO ARE CAMOFLAUGED AND MOST LIKELY SURPLUS FROM THE VIETNAM WAR THE FILM SHOWS THE YEAR 1975 AS THE FILMS RECORDING DATE. THE FILM IS A FEW POSTINGS AFTER THIS POST ON THE BLOG, GO ON AND CHECK OUT THE F-102s OVER LONG ISLAND.

THE F-102 & F-106 DELTA  DAGGER AND DARTS
ROLE IN PROTECTING THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES WITH AIR DEFENSE COMMAND WINGS DURING THE COLD WAR THE PATCH ABOVE CELEBRATES THE F-106 AND THE VERY SERIOUS JOB WITH AIR DEFENSE COMMAND THAT WAS MONITORED BY THE USAF AT NORAD IN CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN OR IN THE HOLE AT OFFUT NEBRASKA THE USAFs STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND UNDERGROUND NERVE CENTER. 

AN F-106 SHOOTS ITS AIR TO AIR NUCLEAR GENIE
/ FALCON , (AIR 24) THE USAF TECHNIQUE IS SHOWN AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST HIDDEN ON A ROTARY MISSILE MAGAZINE IN THE BELLYS OF THESE AIRCRAFTS SO ITS AERO DYNAMICS WERE NOT DISTURBED AND THE SPEED OF THIS INTERCEPTOR WOULD HAD THE WIND RIPPING THE ROCKETS FROM THEIR HOLDERS AND THE JET WOULD LOSE ITS ROCKET SYSTEM OF NUCLEAR AIR TO AIR MUNITIONS.

ALL USAF JET AIRCRAFT HAD HIGH VIS ORANGE PAINTED ON WING TIPS TO SHOW THEY WERE FRIENDLY AIRCRAFT A PHOTO OF THE HIGH VIS PAINT IS AT THE TOP OF THE POST SHOWING THE F-106 PAINTED UP ON THE GROUND AT SUFFOLK AFB

THIS AD THAT RAN IN MAGAZINES WAS JOINTLY FUNDED BY CONVAIR AND THE USAF AIR DEFENSE COMMAND, SUFFOLK COUNTY AFB WAS SURROUNDED BY THE SUBURBS OF NEW YORK CITY AND EVERY DAY ADC WINGS WERE JETTING OUT FOR TRAININGS AND TO INTERCEPT WAYWARD SOVIET BOMBERS OFF THE COAST OF LONG ISLAND, THIS CREATED A HELL OF A SITE AS 5 OR MORE F-102s CAME FLYING OVERHEAD IN FORMATION SCARING THE HELL OUT OF THE AVERAGE SUBURBAN AND THE AREA AROUND BASES WERE LOUD AS JET ENGINES WERE TESTED OR IDLED AND EVEN MILITARY AIR TRAFFIC USING THE BASE AS A LAYOVER CREATED A RUCKUS SO CONVAIR THE ADC PUT OUT THIS EXCELLENT PIECE OF COLDWAR PROPAGANDA STATING THE ROAR OF JETS ENSURES YOUR FREEDOM AND PROTECTION AND IT WAS PATRIOTIC NOT TOO COMPLAIN ABOUT THESE ADC BASES THAT WERE AT THE HEIGHT OF THE COLDWAR IN THE HUNDREDS AROUND THE UNITED STATES NEAR BIG CITIES AND MILITARY CONTRACTORS LIKE AVIATION AND WEAPON PLANTS, THEY SPROUTED UP AND THEIR WAS NO ASKING THE COMMUNITIES NEAR THEM IF THEY MINDED, THEY JUST HAD TO DEAL WITH THE NEW NEIGHBORS WITH LOUD MACHINES AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS. THESE ADS RAN DURING THE LATE 50s EARLY 60s AND THEN DISAPPEARED.,AND JUST LIKE THE PROPAGANDA THE  AIR FORCE ADC BASES STARTED CLOSING AROUND THE COUNTRY AS ICBMS WERE THE NEW PROTECTOR AND THE BASES ATE UP FUNDING THEY NEEDED FOR THE WAR IN VIETNAM, BY THE EARLY 70s ADC BASES WERE SOLD AS AIRPORTS OR GIVEN TO NATIONAL GUARD UNITS ENDING THE BOMBER INTERCEPTOR WINGS, SUFFOLK COUNTY AFB CLOSED IN THE WINTER OF 68' AND THE NATL GUARD TOOK OVER AND FINALLY THE 106th AEROSPACE/COMBAT RESCUE WING SETTLED IN, THESE AIRMEN RESCUE CIVILIANS OUT AT SEA WHEN NEEDED AND STANDBY WHEN SPACE SHUTTLE MISSIONS ARE LAUNCHED TO RECOVER ASTRONAUTS THEY ALSO ROTATE AND DO DOWNED PILOTS IN IRAQ,AFGHANISTAN,SOMALIA ECT.... AND THE ADC MISSION AT SUFFOLK IS HONORED BY THE CURRENT AIRMEN. THEY TOOK A ADC F-102 AND MOUNTED IT IN A TAKEOFF POSITION AT THE FRONT ENTRANCE SO THE USAF AIRMEN OF SUFFOLK COUNTY AFB WHO FOUGHT THE COLDWAR ARE NOT FORGOTTEN..

EARLY PHOTO OF F-102 DELTA DAGGER  PILOTS SCRAMBLE AT THE SOUND OF THE ALERT SIREN AND LEAVE THE ALERT QUARTERS AT A DEAD RUN TO GET AIRBORNE AT SUFFOLK COUNTY AFB 1950s THE ALERT AIRCRAFT WERE LEFT WARMED UP OR IDLEING AND READY TO GO NEVER KNOWING IF THE ALERT IS A ATTACK BY SOVIET BOMBERS HEADING TO US CITIES WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS TO LEVEL THEM,

THE FACT THIS TRAINING TOOL WAS TO KEEP THE PILOT FROM BEING BLINDED BY THE FLASH OF THE AIR TO AIR ROCKET DETONATING AND ALSO HAD PILOTS TAKE EVASIVE ACTION TO AVOID BEING DOSED WITH RADIATION AS THEIR ROCKETS WARHEAD FINDS ITS MARK AND VAPORIZES THE ENEMY BOMBER IN A BLINDING FLASH,

FOR MORE INFO, STORIES .AND PICTURES FROM
THE ACTUAL  AIRMEN STATIONED AT SUFFOLK CO,AFB

DURING THE COLD WAR YEARS LOOK UP THE PAGE UNDER

"SUFFOLK COUNTY AFB" ON FACEBOOK  THE STORIES AND INFORMATION 

THESE GUYs TALK ABOUT IS PRICELESS HISTORY AND DESERVES A VISIT

MARYLAND WARNING SIREN INSTRUCTIONS

(1950s) Civil Defense Recruiting Film "WARNING RED"

ATOMIC ATTACK PREPARATION AND SURVIVAL PROPAGANDA


Here is a early civil defense classic scare tactic post attack film showing ordinary civilians right after their city is hit by enemy (soviet) a-bombs .

Our story revolves around citizen X who caught by surprise is tossed in to a hellish nightmare and the people he meets while searching for his family, at one point he comes across people trapped under a apartment building and he and another citizen start digging them out only to be stopped by the block warden who yells down a pipe telling those trapped under debris to wait until later for a rescue and then goes about sending citizen X on a paul revere type run spreading the word to seek shelter and listen to conelrad while civil defense units go about assesing blast damage and waiting on a radiation survey team.

the video is great atomic propaganda and worth watching

MISSION PROTECT AND DEFEND THE NEW YORK METRO AIRSPACE

FALLOUT SHELTER NYC

CHECK OUT THE POST ABOVE THIS CONTAINING A GREAT SONG CALLED FALLOUT SHELTER DATING BACK TO 1961 !

THE MIDGET (D,E,S,) DISASTER SURVIVAL KIT (ATOMIC TYPE)

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NEW YORK CITY USED AGAIN AS THE NUCLEAR EXAMPLE!!!!

if you go through this blog and past postings you will notice that during the cold war NYC was always the example city in pictures super imposed with mushroom clouds and downtown was the favored location an odd location to pick!

CIVIL DEFENSE PROPAGANDA"OPERATION ALERT AMERICA" (1952) A BRIEF HISTORY OF CIVIL DEFENSE AND ANTI COMMUNIST POLITICS

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DURING THE EARLY 1950s THE ALERT AMERICA CIVIL DEFENSE PROGRAM WAS STARTED,THE PROGRAM HAD A CONVOY OF 18 WHEELER TRUCKS HAULING THE EXHIBITS AND SPEAKERS WHO TRAVELED ACROSS AMERICA ,THE CIVIL DEFENSE AGENCY WAS KNOWN AS THE FEDERAL CIVIL DEFENSE AGENCY ONE OF MANY TITLES CIVIL DEFENSE WOULD GO THROUGH DURING THE COLD WAR, IT WAS A CIVIL DEFENSE CARNIVAL OF SWIMSUITED WOMEN HOLDING SIGNS TO DRAW CROWDS ,THE US GOVERNMENT WAS TRYING TO SELL THE IDEA OF SURVIVAL IN AN ATOMIC ATTACK ON THE PEOPLE THE TOWNS THEY VISITED,AND TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THE COMMUNIST THREAT OF AMERICANS WORKING WITH THE SOVIET UNION TO HELP THEM TAKE OVER AMERICA BY USING ATOMIC WEAPONS,OTHER PROPAGANDA SHOWED HOW SHELTER LIFE COULD BE FUN ,OR HOW USEFUL ATOMIC ENERGY COULD BE AND HOW HARMLESS IT WAS,IT WAS A PURE PROPAGANDA TOOL EXTOLLING THE IMPORTANCE OF LOVING YOUR COUNTRY AND HOW  ACCEPTING CIVIL DEFENSE IS THE PATRIOTIC THING TO DO, THIS ALSO STARTED THE FCDA SERIES OF VARIOUS ALERT AMERICA POSTERS  ONE SERIES WAS A BUNCH OF DETAILED B&W LITHOGRAPHS SHOWING THE MANY JOBS AMERICANS COULD DO FROM DRIVING TRUCKS TO JOINING THE LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENT, THE POSTERS ALSO SHOWED WOMEN DOING JOBS THAT MEN USUALLY DID SUCH AS CUTTING STEEL WITH A TORCH TO RESCUE PEOPLE, AND THEN THERE WAS A SERIES OF  CIVIL DEFENSE PSA POSTERS THAT WERE MORE IN LINE WITH THE WORLD WAR 2 STYLE,SINCE KOREA WAS GOING ON AND COMMUNIST CHINESE TROOPS WERE PUSHING THE MARINES DOWN THE KOREAN PENINSULA AND THE UNITED STATES FRESH OUT OF WORLD WAR TWO FELT WITH KOREA FLASHING UP IN TO MORE THAN A POLICE ACTION AND THE SOVIETS EXPLODING A ATOMIC WEAPON, THINGS WERE GOING TO CRAP PRETTY FAST AND AND ATOMIC WAR WAS MIGHTY POSSIBLE DURING THIS TIME ,AMERICANS NEED TO BE READY AND KNOWING THE VIOLENT NATURE OF THE COMMUNIST TROOPS OF CHINA A WAR ON OUR HOMELAND WOULD NOT BE WITHIN THE GENEVA CONVENTION RULES SO ALERT AMERICA CAME OUT WITH ANOTHER SET OF DRAB COLOR  POSTERS IN THE STYLE OF THE PAST WAR NOT JUST 10 YEARS PRIOR WARNING OF THE ENEMY BOMBING CIVILIANS AND THE USE OF BIOLOGICAL AND ATOMIC WEAPONS AND MOST OF ALL THE CIVIL SECTOR TO GET TOGETHER AND JOIN A BRANCH OF CIVIL DEFENSE TO PROTECT THE LIVES OF AMERICAN CIVILIANS AGAINST THE POSSIBILITY ATOMIC WEAPONS ARE USED ON AMERICAN CITIES THESE POSTERS WEREV EARLY 1949-1954 AND KIND OF DISSAPPEARED AS THE GOVERNMENT YET CHANGED THE NAME OF CIVIL DEFENSE AGAIN TO OFFICE OF CIVIL DEFENSE AND MOBILIZATION NEW PROGRAMS TEACHING THE CIVIL SECTOR TO BE MORE ACTIVE IN CIVIL DEFENSE BY VOLUNTEERING TO BE A RADIOLOGICAL MONITOR OR TO WORK IN THE CD RESCUE UNITS BEING FORMED.THE THREAT CONTINUED TO BUILD AND OPERATION ALERT BECAME THE NEW CATCH PHRASE FOR ANOTHER CIVIL DEFENSE PROJECT OF BLACKOUTS AND MANDATORY AIR RAID PRACTICES THIS LASTED WELL INTO THE 1960s AND ALERT AMERICA FADED AWAY THE EXHIBITS AND LECTURES ALONG WITH THE CONVOY OF TRUCKS WERE USED IN OTHER CIVIL DEFENSE AGENCY PROJECTS AND THE ALERT AMERICA ARTWORK CAN BE FOUND OVER AT

civildefensemuseum.com

THANKS FOR THE ARTWORK ABOVE AND

conelrad.com

THEY ALSO WILL HAVE A LITTLE MORE INFO ON ALERT AMERICA THANKS TO BOTH WEBSITES FOR THEIR DEDICATION TO ATOMIC AGE LIFE AND CIVIL DEFENSE

The Alert America civil defense exhibit convoy of 1952 was what Millard Caldwell, Administrator of the Federal Civil Defense Administration (1951-1952), called “Paul Revere on Wheels.” Th

e purpose of the much ballyhooed tour was to demonstrate to Americans the value of preparing for an atomic attack by the Soviet Union and, perhaps more strikingly, the consequences of ignoring such a threat. The “Alert America!” book prepared by the John R. Morrison Studio of New York functioned as a kind of “Press Book / Play Book” for the

campaign. It is a fascinating and heavily illustrated souvenir from a strange moment in America’s history.

1952 was an excellent year to roll out this bold entry in Cold War pageantry: The Soviets had the Bomb, America was embroiled in a stalemate war in Korea and Senator Joseph McCarthy was just hitting his Red Scare stride. The Alert America convoy (which was actually three separate convoys on three different routes) found a receptive audience in the nearly forty-eight states that it visited. Over the eight-month tour, an estimated one million visitors turned out in eighty-two cities to view the exhibit.






The Alert America convoy concept was a sequel of sorts to the hugely popular Freedom Train tour of 1947-1949. The Freedom Train, sponsored by the American Heritage Foundation (AHF), was a rolling shrine to American triumph. Its 130 documents on loan from the National Archives included German and Japanese surrender paperwork from World War II. The Freedom Train became a phenomenon and drew enormous crowds—far more than could be accommodated. But the towns that the train visited also had carefully planned, pro-American celebrations called “Rededication Weeks” to occupy the overflow throngs. These patriotic events included the taking of the “Freedom Pledge.”

The tour inspired a song “The Freedom Train” by Irving Berlin (“inside you’ll find a precious freight…”), the comics (L’il Abner and Captain Marvel), books, postcards and, of course, a rapturous media and public. One reporter noted that he observed a high school girl literally kiss the train while she waited in line.






The impetus for the Alert America campaign was provided by the National Advisory Council of the FCDA. In June of 1951 this body called for a robust initiative to educate Americans about the peril of Russian attack and the importance of civil defense. Representatives of the FCDA approached the [url=http://www.freedomsfoundation.org/]


Freedoms Foundation[/url] to assist in the project, but that group’s president, Kevin D. Wells decided it would be more prudent to create a new organization for the endeavor. Thus the Valley Forge Foundation was born. One executive of the AHF became a Vice President of the Valley Forge Foundation and thus provided a human link between the Freedom Train and Alert America projects.

As it did for the Freedom Train several years before, Edward H. Burdick Associates of New York designed the exhibits for the Alert America Convoy and as with the Freedom Train various companies and governmental agencies pitched in to help, too. For example, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) advised on content, General Motors, Ford and International Harvester contributed trucks and cars, Standard Oil contributed gas and oil, the U.S. Army contributed convoy drivers, and the Advertising Council produced promotional material (as it did for the Freedom Train). The tagline that the Ad Council came up with was fitting for the general hysteria of the times: “IT’S THE SHOW THAT MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE”






On Monday, January 7, 1952 the cargo of the Alert America convoy of ten trucks was set up for the grand premiere in Departmental Hall on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. As one of the first exhibits, the opening day visitors saw “City X,” a multimedia depiction of a town before and after an atomic attack. A mushroom cloud lit up its darkened panels while audio of an explosion was played through speakers. The words “THIS COULD BE YOUR CITY” flashed over the devastation. Accompanying scale models of blast damaged buildings drove home the danger. There was also a display of drugs and bandages in the booth labeled “Every Bombed City Will Need Help.”

If the first half of the Alert America displays were intended to shock, the second half was intended to sell the hope of civil defense. Exhibits and demonstrations on shelter preparation, radiation detection and rescue work were presented. One booth offered personalized metal survival dog tags (with name, address, blood type and religion) for fifty cents. When President Harry S. Truman visited the “show” on Friday, January 11, 1952 he had dog tags made for himself and his family.





 The burgeoning genre of civil defense motion pictures was well represented in the Alert America program. People dressed in poorly fitting Bert the Turtle costumes worked the floor handing out fliers to see “Bert’s” film DUCK AND COVER.






In keeping with the other Cold War pageants of the era including the Freedom Train, the Alert America Convoy was, at its core, intended to reinforce American values in the face of “Kremlin aggression” as one piece of promotional material put it.

The “Alert America!” book includes many examples of the indoctrination efforts that would be part and parcel of the tour’s mission to arouse the patriotic survival instincts of all Americans. Here are just a few. Note that as with the Freedom Train there is a “pledge.”

EXAMPLE # 1






APPEAL TO AMERICANS by Kenneth D. Wells, President, Valley Forge Foundation






The “Alert America” Convoy Program is based on these critically important facts:






FACT 1: Our self-declared enemy, the Soviet Union, is determined to rule the world.






FACT 2: We Americans stand in the way of Soviet aggression.






FACT 3: The Enemy opposes us in four ways: a) psychological propaganda, b) economic pressure, c) political maneuvering, d) military force.






FACT 4: The Soviet Union is set on smashing our freedom, our ideals, our moral standards, and our religious beliefs. No one knows when its physical violence will crash down on our cities, factories and farms.






FACT 5: We are now in an all-out fight for freedom against Soviet tyranny.






FACT 6: The Soviet Union has a stockpile of atomic bombs.






FACT 7: The Soviet Union has a supply of long-range bombers that can reach any part of the United States.






FACT 8: The Soviet Union has the means for waging intensive biological warfare.






FACT 9: The Soviet Union has the plan and manpower for vast sabotage inside our cities and factories.






FACT 10: General Hoyt Vandenberg, Air Force Chief of Staff, states that in the event of an air attack on this country, 70 out of 100 bombers would get through to their targets.






FACT 11: The Hiroshima bomb in one second killed or severely injured 140,000 people. Bombs have grown greatly in size and destructive force since then.






FACT 12: An adequate system of Civil Defense by skilled volunteers could not cut fatalities in half.






FACT 13: Secretary of Defense Robert A. Lovett states that Civil Defense is a co-equal partner with the military in the defense of the nation and must become a strong co-equal partner if America is to survive.






With these facts in mind, the Valley Forge Foundation, a non-partisan and non-sectarian group of private individuals, has secured the help and funds, equipment and facilities from companies, individuals and organizations, and under contract with the Federal Civil Defense Administration, has developed a campaign to “Alert America.” The campaign will be dramatized by spectacular educational Exhibits brought to our major cities in three motorized “Alert America” Convoys. These Exhibits will be set up in large convention and exhibit halls of our cities.






We believe the “Alert America” Exhibits will touch off an intensive community-wide program of education and special events under the supervision of the state and city civil defense authorities in cooperation with local citizens groups.






The “Alert America” Convoy Program seeks to achieve these five results:






1. To emphasize the fact that Civil Defense is a part of the total defense of our free American Way of Life, based as it is on a fundamental belief in God, on constitutional government designed to serve the people and our indivisible bundle of political and economic rights.






2. To awaken American men and women, boys and girls—no matter who they are, where they are, or what their station in life may be—to the urgency of their personal participation in a vigorous Civil Defense in their own city, factory, and farm, and to encourage volunteers for such specialized training as may be needed.






3. To help inspire in all Civil Defense organizations the highest possible morale and the resolution to meet any danger that lies ahead.






4. To get ever family, factory, business and institution in America to organize itself as a strong center, a true citadel of Civil Defense working harmoniously with in full cooperation with local Civil Defense authorities.






5. To recognize that “Civil Defense is Common Sense,” and to realize that Civil Defense, like accident prevention in normal life, is a critically important personal responsibility.






Here is a challenge that no American with a conscience can or will ignore.






It is urgent that every American rise above all partisanship and, realizing the common danger, prove his citizenship by actively and personally backing Civil Defense. For here in our time, the destiny of the world is being decided.






We can and must individually hold our ideals high. The hard-driving work and power of our ideals will win out in this time of crisis. We have a sacred privilege that no thinking citizen will ignore—the privilege of serving as did George Washington at Valley Forge in 1777 and 1778—the privilege of accepting this opportunity to save and extend what is dearer than life itself—our American Way of Life.






Train—Work—and Pray—for an “Alert America”!






EXAMPLE # 2:






ALERT AMERICA PLEDGE






You can count on me to be an alert American because I want to help protect our freedoms and construct an enduring piece






I WILL… volunteer for one of the local Civil Defense services






I WILL… train myself and my family now in Civil Defense self-protection






I WILL… prepare a family shelter area and equip it with first aid supplies






I WILL… prepare my home against fire and atomic attack






I WILL… take an active part in Civil Defense where I work






I WILL… take First Aid training






I WILL… donate my blood for our war wounded






I WILL… pass along the Civil Defense lessons I have learned to my friends and neighbors






EXAMPLE # 3:






MAYOR’S PROCLAMATION






It is suggested that each Mayor proclaim a community-wide “Alert America” week and each Governor proclaim a State-wide “Alert America” month for the period of the Convoy’s visit.






Whereas the United States of America is challenged by a deadly enemy who would destroy our freedoms, our moral standards, our religious beliefs and everything we hold dear; and






Whereas this enemy has a stockpile of atomic bombs and a supply of long-range bombers that can reach any part of the United States; and






Whereas the Defense Department states that in the event of an air attack on this country 70 out of 100 bombers would get through to their targets; and






Whereas a strong Civil Defense, as a co-equal partner with the Armed Forces, can help protect our freedoms and construct an enduring peace; and






Whereas the non-political, non-sectarian Valley Forge foundation in co-operation with the Federal Civil Defense Administration and State and Local Civil Defense Authorities is sponsoring a nationwide tour of three motorized “Alert America” Convoys; and






Whereas these Convoys are carrying to the cities of our nation a dramatic educational exhibit on Civil Defense; and






Whereas one of the “Alert America” Convoys will arrive in our city on _________ (date) to ______________ (date);






Now, Therefore. I, ______________________ (name), Mayor of ________________ do hereby proclaim “Alert America” Week to begin on _______________ and to end on __________ and do call upon every citizen and every organized group to take part in the events of _______________ (city) “Alert America” Week and to cooperate in every way possible with the spirit of the week and of the “Alert America” every way possible with the spirit of the week and of the “Alert America” Exhibit; and to work devotedly to know our freedoms, love our freedoms, and guard our freedoms; to participate actively in Civil Defense; and by every means to train and work and pray for an “Alert America.”






In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the City of _____________ to be affixed, this _______________ (date).






Mayor’s Signature __________________


Mayor of the City of ________________


As previously mentioned, the Alert America Convoy was a significant public relations success, if not the cultural touchstone that the Freedom Train became. Of course, from CONELRAD’s perspective, Alert America is the more interesting of the two “shows.” It is easy to imagine cynical teenagers cutting class to see the exhibit to get a cheap thrill from the “Scare” half of Alert America. Indeed, the Haunted House quality of Alert America must have been hard for most people to resist. The even more magnetic lure of the Freedom Train is harder to relate to from the vantage point of the 21st Century.






The “Alert America!” book is so rare it deserves a tour of its own and it will fit in a Toyota Prius with room to spare.






SOURCES






The following reference works were used in this book review:






The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming: Pageantry and Patriotism in Cold War America by Richard M. Fried, 1998 (Oxford University Press, New York)






This is Only a Test: How Washington D.C. Prepared for Nuclear War by David F. Krugler, 2006 (Palgrave MacMillan, New York)






“Truman Sees ‘Alert’ Display, Pledges Self,” The Washington Post, January 12, 1952






For more on the Freedom Train, read CONELRAD's review of the Good Citizenship booklet, "an official Freedom Train publication" from 1948.