1961 THE COMPLACENT AMERICANS

A CLASSIC CIVIL DEFENSE RECORD

(CLICK ON LINK AT BOTTOM TO LISTEN TO SIDE ONE AND SIDE TWO)

Scholars will debate President Kennedy's impact on American history for ever, but this much is certain: The young Commander-in-Chief's repeated Cold War saber rattling spawned a paranoid Civil Defense fad the likes of which had not been seen before (or since). Thankfully, some remnants of this apocalyptic heyday have survived into the 21st century for our contemporary enjoyment. One such gem is a Civil Defense "scare" album called THE COMPLACENT AMERICANS that simply must be heard to be believed. This LP - with its bright orange mushroom cloud cover and its hyperbolic advisories to sensitive listeners - could well have been produced by that genius of exploitation William Castle. But actually it was recorded under the stately auspices of the Office of Civil Defense, a sub-branch of the U.S. government (later replaced by FEMA). Unlike IF THE BOMB FALLS (a more somber wax cousin), COMPLACENT seeks to grab the listener by the collar and shake him or her out of an idyllic peacetime slumber.

Presented as a kind of Cold War "It's a Wonderful Life," THE COMPLACENT AMERICANS (as personified vocally by Robert Connelly), begins side one with its businessman narrator witnessing an H-Bomb attack on the fictional (and unfortunately named) "Target City." His voice, augmented by dreamy and futuristic sound effects, follows as the sirens and the explosion fade away:

"The H-Bomb! The H-Bomb! The H-Bomb! Flash of brightness. A tremendous roar... And I, the complacent American, thinking that no one would ever dare attack an American city. And I told my friends that nuclear war would never happen... but it did. I always thought I was a good American - patriotic and civic minded. But I was wrong. I failed myself and my country."

This less than optimistic set-up shifts to the now deceased Complacent American recalling his last hours before the attack ("I had just returned to Target City from an extended business trip") and how he now knows what went so terribly wrong ("Now I can see how my complacency caused my death..."). Naturally, this recollection includes all the minor things he either ignored (Civil Defense meetings: "What a waste of time, besides I was going to bowl that night anyway."), took for granted (tomorrow night's baseball tickets: "I know now there will be no tomorrow night, because Death does not attend a baseball game") or just plain found annoying (Civil Defense drills: "Now can't those Civil Defense guys sound that siren some other time?"). His tour through the last moments before the great conflagration also showcases a number of the "38 sensational and emotional sound effects" advertised on the cover of the album. In addition to the blast recording, the listener is treated to crowd sounds, car horns, airport arrival announcements and children playing. One wonders if the original buyer of this LP was disappointed to find that a good 32 of the 38 sound effects have nothing whatsoever to do with the H-Bomb.

The next stop for our post-nuclear George Bailey is an omniscient peek into the fallout shelters: "I can see people alive in the fallout shelters. Had I learned the rules as set forth by the Office of Civil Defense, I would be alive and in that shelter now. How simple it looked - those who knew what to do and where to go are still amongst the living. I had my opportunity, but I was the Complacent American."

Side One's highlight is the Complacent American's re-witnessing of the H-Bomb attack that took his Complacent life, but this time with far greater clarity (and more sound effects) than before:

"The streets suddenly became packed with cars, trucks and buses. I remember seeing all those cars just piling up against each other - just wrecking each other! Panic. The hysterical look in people's eyes! Everybody pushing and shoving each other... I had glanced about me and then I saw a great wail of fright overcoming Target City. How those people were bursting from every building. Sidewalks began to blacken with thousands of men and women gripped in sheer terror and panic! Then there was a man carrying a portable radio and I said, 'Hey you, what's that voice saying on the radio?' and then the voice saying 'THIS IS A CONELRAD RED ALERT. THIS IS NOT A TEST. THIS IS AN ALERT. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY EVERYONE. I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A TEST, THIS IS CONELRAD. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. WE ARE UNDER ATTACK'"

The Complacent American concludes this side by expressing his remorse for not having taken Civil Defense more seriously:

"I'm afraid. Because THIS IS real. The voice said it wasn't a test. Take cover immediately? What kind of cover? To where? Where will I go?! I wished then that I had attended the Civil Defense meeting... What shall I do? What shall I do? Shall I pray? My God I guess itís too late for even prayers now."

Yes, too late for him, but, gratefully, not too late for us!

Side Two opens ("Note Should not be played for ten minutes following Side One") with the Voice of the Complacent American now reborn as a more mundane but decidedly less complacent Civil Defense spokesman:

"The devastation of Target City was mythical however it could happen. The reasons are many that it hasn't. There are many complacent Americans and as a result of their complacency they fail both themselves and our country..."

After this scolding, a tour of this country's "mammoth military installations" ensues and we are treated to some aural visits to NORAD and SAC. Then, Mr. Jack F. Fuller, Civil Defense Coordinator for the city of Los Angeles, state of California, signs on to give us the broadstroke "basics" of survival:

"First there are two types of sirens..."

"Next we learn about CONELRAD and the emergency frequencies on your radio dial..."

"Now everyone, whether he lives in Target City (and we thought it was mythical) or any other city should act instantly when an attack is threatened..."

The album ends with these comforting, yet difficult to believe, words:

"Follow all these rules and you WILL survive!"

(TEXT FROM BACK OF RECORD COVER)
This recording contains official instructions to save your life in the event of a nuclear attack.

Mr. Jack F. Fuller appears through the courtesy of the Office of Civil Defense, City of Los Angeles, State of California

With Robert Connelly as the Complacent American

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PLEASE NOTE
Because of the 38 sensational and emotional sound effects, including the authentic sounds of an H-Bomb devestating a mythical city: Side One should not be played by anyone who cannot undergo an exteme emotional experience.

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SIDE ONE: "Shocker Side"
Hear the startling and emotional presentation of an American City being devestated by nuclear attack. Although the story is mythical, it could happen.

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SIDE TWO: "Survival"
Note: (Should not be played for ten minutes following Side One) Visit many of our defense systems, such as NORAD-SAGE-SAC-BMEWS-WHITE-ALICE, etc. Then Jack Fuller covers all important survival instructions in the event of an enemy nuclear attack.
THE LINKS BELOW WORK FOR SIDE ONE AND SIDE TWO 

 http://www.authentichistory.com/1946-1960/4-cwhomefront/3-civildefense/1-educathttp://www.authentichistory.com/1946-1960/4-cwhomefront/3-civildefense/1-educating/19610000
SIDE TWO WITH CIVIL DEFENSE DIREOR JACK FULLERCLICK5 HERE TO HERE SIDE TWO OF THIS RECORD

1952 NYC Atomic Attack Drill Clip (ARTSY)

A VERY ARTSY CLIP OF A SIMULATED A BOMB ATTACK ON NYC WITH WARNING BY A MILITARY

RADAR OPERATOR THAT TRACKS THE SOVIET JET CARRYING A NUKE FOR NYC,SHOWS CIVIL DEFENSE RESPONDING TO ASSIGNED POSTS AS A HAUNTING AIR RAID SIREN WAKES MANHATTAN,ANOTHER SCENARIO INVOLVING NYC,AND OUT OF ALL THE MOVIES THAT SHOW A SIMULATED ATOMIC ATTACK OR A PICTURE OR WRITTEN WORD NYC IS THE TARGET CITY IN AT LEAST 75% MAYBE MORE......

PROPAGANDA #1 LETTER OF FAILURE AND A WELCOME TO THE NYC PUBLIC FALLOUT SHELTER SYSTEM

THE LETTER THAT THE NYC APARTMENT DWELLER GOT INVITING THEM TO THEIR OWN PERSONAL FEW FEET OF UNVENTILATED FLOOR SPACE. LOCATION, THE BASEMENT OF HOPEFULLY THEIR OWN BUILDINGS BOILER ROOM. 60 PLUS ATTENDING PLUS THE CRAZY LADY FROM 3G AND THE LADY NEXT DOOR WITH THE 5 KIDS AND NEWBORN. WELCOME NYC CITIZEN TO THE URBAN NYC PUBLIC FALLOUT SHELTER SYSTEM.* COMPLIMENTARY CRACKERS MAY OR MAY NOT BE INCLUDED*

JANUARY, 2 2020 PROPAGANDA #36 " THE CALL GOES OUT TO CITIZENS OF GOTHAM"

1954-1956 POST No.2 NATIONAL ATTACK DRILL OPERATION ALERT NYC FOOTAGE, AND RARE NYC CONELRAD RADIO BROADCAST

In 1954, the United States Federal Civil Defense Agency instituted an exercise called Operation Alert. It was a civil defense drill that took place on the same day in scores of major cities. Citizens in what were called the "target" areas were required to take cover for fifteen minutes. At the same time civil defense officials tested their readiness and their communications systems, and federal officials practiced evacuating from the capital. Even President Eisenhower left the White House for a tent city outside Washington. The following day newspapers routinely published reports of the fictitious attacks naming the number of bombs that were dropped in the mock alerts, the number of cities hit, and the number of casualties. 

In 1955, New York State made the failure to take cover during an Operation Alert exercise punishable with a fine of up to $500 and a year in jail. A small group of pacifists that included Catholic Worker Dorothy Day reacted to this law by staging a protest in Manhattan's City Hall Park. When the air raid sirens sounded, on June 15, 1955, the 27 protesters sat on park benches, surrounded by reporters. They explained that they were protesting the government's pretense that citizens could be protected in the event of a full-scale nuclear attack. The protesters were arrested and given suspended sentences. 

The pacifists held similar protests every year. But it wasn't until a group of young mothers organized a much larger-scale demonstration in 1960 that the rest of New York took notice. The women managed to draw hundreds of protesters, including celebrities like Norman Mailer, to City Hall Park on May 3, the day of the 1960 Operation Alert. The organizers appealed to the political center; encouraged protesters to dress in their best clothes and to bring their children; and claimed to represent just one belief: "Peace is the only defense against nuclear war." 

There was one more Operation Alert in 1961. The young mothers managed to bring together two-and-a-half-thousand protesters. That year civil defense protests also took place in other states, and hundreds of college students staged demonstrations on several East Coast campuses. In 1962 Operation Alert was permanently canceled. 

ABOVE THE US GOVERNMENT IN TRANSIT HOLD MOCK SENATE AND CONGRESSIONAL MEETINGS AND MEETINGS WITH THE PRESIDENT OR VICE PRESIDENT,BOTH PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT COULD NOT BE NEAR EACH OTHER TO ENSURE CONTINUITY OF GOVERNMENT AND TO ENSURE ONE WOULD SURVIVE A ATOMIC ATTACK AND BE ABLE TO FIGHT A WAR AND ISSUE CODES AND ORDERS TO THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF AND LAUNCH BOMBERS, MISSILES, AGAINST THE ATTACKING COUNTRY (SOVIET UNION) THE GOVERNMENT IN TRANSIT ALSO HAD EVERY BRANCH AND DEPARTMENT PRESENT TO ALSO ENSURE POST ATTACK RECOVERY THE PEOPLE THAT WOULD GET FOOD AND HELP TO SURVIVORS AND TO START A POST WAR ECONOMY (THE REALLY BELIEVED IT POSSIBLE WHEN WE CANT DO THIS WITHOUT A WAR) EVERYBODY WAS PRESENT TO GET THE UNITED STATES UP AND RUNNING POST ATOMIC ATTACK EVEN THE POSTAL SYSTEM THIS WAS ALL IN THEORY.

ABOVE IS ONE OF THE GOVERNMENT IN TRANSIT DEPARTMENTS SET UP IN A KOREAN WAR SURPLUS MAYBE EVEN WORLD WAR TWO TENT, THE US GOVERNMENT AT THE TIME WAS VERY BUSY BUILDING ELABORATE BUNKERS AROUND THE UNITED STATES LIKE THE GREENBRIAR, RAVEN ROCK, MOUNT WEATHER , AND OTHER COVERT PLACES TO HOST THE CONGRESS OR SENATE OR PRESIDENT OR VICE PRESIDENT EACH WITH A HAND SELECTED ADMINISTRATION THOSE PICKED WERE ISSUED CARDS THAT STATED THE BEARER WAS TO BE ALLOWED UNRESTRICTED MOVEMENT AND HELP IF REQUESTED DUE TO ESSENTIAL GOVERNMENT DUTIES. THESE MEN AND WOMEN WOULD HAVE TO LEAVE BEHIND FAMILIES TO BE INCINERATED BY THE COMING ATTACK, I DON'T THINK THEY REALLY EVER KNEW WHO WOULD BE ABLE TO DO THIS AND WOULD STAY BEHIND.DURING THE OPERATION ALERT YEARS A MEDIA SESSION WOULD BE SET UP SHOWING THE PRESIDENT LEAVING VIA HELICOPTER TO GO TO HIS HIDDEN SHELTER AND OTHER MEDIA SHOWED DOZENS OF HELICOPTERS FERRYING ESSENTIAL MILITARY PERSONNEL FROM THE PENTAGON LAWN AS OTHER LESS FORTUNATE POLITICIANS EVEN THE VICE PRESIDENT SHELTERING IN BUNKERS UNDER THE WHITE HOUSE OR ON LOCAL MILITARY BASES. 


BELOW 2 PICTURES SHOW FIRST WHAT LOOKS LIKE FDNY? GO OVER A NEW CHRYSLER  LIBERTY BELL VICTORY SIREN A LATE 1950s SIREN AND BELOW THIS PICTURE OFFICIALS GATHER ON A NYC ROOFTOP TO KICK OFF PROBABLY ONE OF THE FIRST OP ALERTS IN THE EARLY 1950s BOTH PICTURES SHOW THE SAME ROOFTOP EDGE GUARDS AND COULD BE THE SAME ROOFTOP WITH DIFFERENT SIRENS THE FIRST PICTURE SHOWS THE CHRYSLER SIREN WHAT PROBABLY HAS A BIG SIX CYLINDER CAR OR TRUCK ENGINE PUSHING THE BLOWER IN THAT SIREN AND IT PROBABLY NO I'D SAY DEFINITELY MADE A HELL OF A NOISE THE EARLIER PHOTO BELOW THE FIRST MAY BE A SURPLUS WORLD WAR TWO SIREN IF ANY SIREN EXPERTS KNOW PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

BELOW A NYC METROPOLITAN BUS HANDBILL 
INSTRUCTING PASSENGERS WHAT TO DO IF THE ALERT BEGINS AND THEY ARE ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

(BELOW )NYPD KEEP WATCH NEAR NYC TRANSIT BUSES THAT PULLED OVER WHEN THE ALERT STARTED FORCING THE RIDERS IN TO SHELTERS.

(BELOW) THOSE FORCED FROM THE STREETS OR WERE IN PLACES WORKING OR SHOPPING MAKE THEIR WAY INTO THE BASEMENT SHELTER OF WHAT LOOKS LIKE A LARGE BUILDING'S BASEMENT SHELTER, AND THAT IS ALL THEY WERE ,NOT STOCKED OR ASSESSED A PROTECTIVE FACTOR AGAINST RADIATION. THESE SHELTERS WERE NOT SET UP FOR LONG TERM OR EVEN SHORT TERM STAYS UNLESS A BUILDING OR STORE OWNER STOCKED IT WITH SUPPLIES ON THEIR OWN DOLLAR, THE NATIONAL FALLOUT SHELTER PROGRAM STARTED IN 1961 AND MARKED SHELTER LOCATIONS WITH THE ALL FAMILIAR BLACK AND ORANGE/YELLOW SIGNS WITH THREE DOWNWARD TRIANGLES , THESE LOCATIONS WERE ASSESSED A PF AGAINST RADIATION AND HAD WATER AND VARIOUS RATIONS TO OFFER SHELTER INHABITANTS  POSSIBLY A WEEKS WORTH OF SUPPLIES WITH SOME SHELTERS STOCKED WITH RADIOLOGICAL MEASURING GEAR.(*note this photo appears in another post about los angeles civil defense drills and was mistakenly identified as a california picture)

ABOVE NEW YORKERS AWAIT THE ALL CLEAR IN ONE OF NEW YORKS MANY SUBWAY STATIONS BY VOLUNTEER CIVIL DEFENSE WORKERS, NYC AND NEW YORK STATE REALLY GOT BEHIND THE WHOLE CIVIL DEFENSE PROGRAM MAYOR LaGUARDIA AND WAGNER AND NYS GOV. ROCKEFELLER WERE  VERY PRO CIVIL DEFENSE AND ADVOCATED AND ALLOCATED FUNDING FOR MANY CIVIL DEFENSE PROGRAMS ,EQUIPMENT, EDUCATION, AND SET UP A WORKING VOLUNTEER CIVIL DEFENSE ORGANIZATION,

ABOVE A NYPD OFFICER STANDS A SOLITARY WATCH WAITING FOR THE ALL CLEAR SIREN TO SOUND, TO SEE AND HEAR VIDEO OF THE AIR RAID SIRENS SOUNDING THROUGH THE EMPTY NYC STREETS IS A VERY EERIE SOUND AND IMAGE.

ABOVE A PEDESTRIAN RUNS FOR IT AS THE AIR RAID SIREN IS BLARING SIGNALING HE NEEDS TO TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY! CARS ARE HAPHAZARDLY PULLED OVER AND THEIR OCCUPANTS ARE ALREADY IN PUBLIC SHELTERS TAKING COVER, ALL UNDER THE WATCHFUL EYES OF NYPD.
OPERATION ALERT 1954-1956  NEW YORK CITY NEWSREELS
THE NEWSREELS BELOW ARE OF VARIOUS OPERATION ALERT DRILLS NATIONAL ATOMIC ATTACK MANDATORY DRILLS THAT OCCURED IN THE MID 1950s  MORE OF THESE LOST FILMS OF A VERY DIFFERENT NYC ARE BEING RESTORED AND RELEASED  ALTHOUGH THESE DRILLS WERE WIDELY THOUGHT OF AS A PAIN IN THE ASS IT IS EERIE TO SEE TIMES SQUARE EMPTY OF PEOPLE AND TRAFFIC OR TO SEE NEW YORKERS WAITING IN SUBWAY ENTRANCES FOR THE ALL CLEAR. THE BLOG HAS FILM OF A ATTACK DRILL IN NYC WITH AIR RAID SIRENS HOWLING THROUGH THE CANYONS OF NYC ONLY A FEW POSTS BACK SO CHECK IT OUT!

(BELOW)BEFORE FALLOUT SHELTER SIGNS THIS WAS THE PUBLIC SHELTER SIGN SOME REMAIN AROUND NYC TO THIS DAY

THE MOCK NATIONAL ATTACK THAT OCCURED IN 1956 WITH MORE NYC FOOTAGE THAN OTHER FEATURED NEWSCLIPS, SHOWS UPTOWN (42nd street? )SUBWAY STOP ,NEW YORKERS BEING RUSHED INTO SHELTERS BY NYPD .AND AT THE END OF THE NEWSREEL NO OTHER CITY WAS GIVEN A "MOCK" DEATH TOLL EXCEPT NYC ! CHECK IT OUT FOR THE MOCK AMOUNT OF VAPORIZED NYC RESIDENTS, THESE DRILLS WERE QUITE COMMON IN THE 1950s AND EVEN THEN NYC HAD ITS SHARE OF INDIVIDUAL THINKERS WHO PROTESTED THESE EXERCISES, ALSO NYC WAS AND STILL IS THE CITY USED FOR RUSSIANS TO ATTACK  AND BOMB IN THESE DRILLS  AND IS USED IN FILMS, AND OTHER CIVIL DEFENSE PROPAGANDA ALSO HOLLYWOOD FILMS, BUT IT WOULD TAKE MORE THAN A NUCLEAR ATTACK TO SLOW DOWN THE AVERAGE NEW YORKER!

LOOK FOR OTHER POSTS ON THIS BLOG THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER FOOTAGE,PICTURES,ETC OF THESE COLD WAR DRILLS. CHECK EM OUT!

(BELOW)IT JUST WOULDN'T BE NYC UNLESS SOMEONE WAS PROTESTING THIS ATTACK DRILL , EVEN THOUGH THE U.S. WAS VERY ANTI - COMMUNIST AND MOST SUPPPORTED THESE DRILLS A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE DECIDED TO BOYCOTT AND DEMONSTRATE DURING THE DRILL AND WERE PROMPTLY ARRESTED

BELOW OPERATION 1955 IS THE FIRST NEWSREEL FOLLOWED BY OPERATION ALERT 1956 WITH NYCs DEATH TOLL




BELOW IS THE ACTUAL NYC CONELRAD RADIO BROADCAST HEARD IN NEW YORK CITY DURING OPERATION ALERT DRILL TELLING LISTENERS TO TURN THEIR RADIOS TO 640 AND 1240 ON THEIR RADIOS MAYOR WAGNER GIVES IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON HOW TO SURVIVE A ATOMIC ATTACK AS WELL AS CITYWIDE UPDATES FROM CIVIL DEFENSE POSTS A VERY RARE RECORDING FROM CONELRAD.COM

TIMES SQUARE NYC EMPTY DURING A UNKNOWN OPERATION ALERT DRILL WITH CIVIL DEFENSE WARDEN STANDING WATCH 

HERE WE SEE NEW YORK CITY'S TIMES SQUARE DURING A BUSINESS DAY THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE THAT PARTICIPATED IN THESE DRILLS WAS IN THE THOUSANDS HUNDREDS OF. I CANNOT IMAGINE HOW NEW YORK CITY WOULD OF FARED IN A REAL ATTACK FAST FORWARD TO THE 60S AND ON THERE WOULD BE NO TIMELY WARNING AVAILABLE AND IT WOULD ALMOST MAKE THINGS WORSE TO EVEN WARN PEOPLE TO SEEK SHELTER WITH A FEW MINUTES WARNING IN THE AGE OF MISSILES LAUNCHED VIA SUBMARINES. 

ALONG WITH VARIOUS PROTESTS A PRIEST STANDS IN THE MIDDLE OF ONE OF MANHATTANS USUALLY BUSY AVENUES AND PRAYS FOR PEACE ALONE

NYC SCHOOLCHILDREN WERE NOT IMMUNE FROM THEIR MANDATORY 15 MINUTES OF OPERATION ALERT TIME ALTHOUGH I NEVER PARTICIPATED IN OPERATION ALERT THIS DUCK AND COVER EXERCISE WAS PRACTICED DURING MY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DAYS WAY INTO THE 1970s AND SOME SCHOOLS 1980s 1950s CHILDREN HAD DISCUSSIONS ON WHAT TO DO IF A HYDROGEN BOMB WAS DROPPED, MY ERA THEY NEVER EXPLAINED ANYTHING IT WAS A TONE THAT CAME THROUGH THE SCHOOL P.A. AND A NERVOUS TEACHER WOULD CLOSE THE BLINDS AND SHUT OFF THE LIGHTS AND TELL US TO COVER OUR FACES UNDER OUR DESKS FACING AWAY FROM THE WINDOWS, THEY NEVER EXPLAINED WHY OR WHAT WE WERE DOING, NUCLEAR ATTACK STAYED A TABOO SUBJECT WITH CHILDREN IN TO THE 1980s WHEN THE TV MOVIE "THE DAY AFTER " THE STORY OF A NUCLEAR ATTACK ON THE UNITED STATES AS SEEN BY THE RESIDENTS OF LAWRENCE ,KANSAS TV GUIDE AND CHILD PSYCHOLOGISTS AS WELL AS EDUCATORS WARNED PARENTS NOT TO ALLOW THEIR CHILDREN TO WATCH THE MADE FOR TV MOVIE.

IN THE END CIVIL DEFENSE ONCE A VERY BACKED PLAN FROM MAYOR TO GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK WAS ABANDONED IN PLACE BY THE MAYORS OF THE LATE 1960S - 1980S THE THOUGHT OF NEW YORKERS RUSHING IN PANIC THRU STREETS ALREADY CONGESTED TO FIND REFUGE UNDER A 60 FLOOR BUILDING THAT IN ALL LIKELIHOOD WOULD WIND UP IN A 60 FLOOR DEBRIS PILE DOOMING THOSE IN THE SHELTER TO BE ENTOMBED AND IF THAT DID NOT FINISH US OFF FIRESTORMS CREATED FROM THE TARGET PACKAGE THAT THE SOVIETS HAVE PLANNED FOR THE TRI STATE NEW YORK AREA WOULD NOT ALLOW A LIVING THING TO SURVIVE FOR HUNDREDS OF MILES AROUND THE POPULATED AND MANUFACTURING AREAS OF METROPOLITAN NYC, IN ONE TARGET PACKAGE I SAW NYC RECIEVED NO LESS THAN 8 PROBABLY 20 MEGATON WARHEADS LONG ISLAND WAS COVERED ALL THE WAY TO THE TWIN FORKS NEW JERSEY EVERY INDUSTRIAL AREA AND INFRASTRUCTURE WAS TARGETED FROM NORTHERN TO SOUTHERN N.J. SAME AS CONNECTICUT ESPECIALLY AROUND THE US NAVY SUBMARINE BASE AT GROTON, AND EVEN IF THAT DID NOT HAPPEN THE TARGET PLAN FOR WASHINGTON D.C. WOULD HAVE SUCH A LETHAL RADIATION DOSE THAT WOULD FOLLOW THE WINDS UP THE COAST TO NYC AND THAT WOULD BE THE END OF LIFE. THE MORE INFORMATION NYC MAYORS GOT ABOUT THE REALITIES IT SEEMED A WORTHLESS EXPENDITURE. NYC WAS ALMOST BANKRUPT IN 1975 WHEN FORD TOLD THE CITY TO DROP DEAD, ITS INFRASTRUCTURE WAS FALLING APART CIVIL DEFENSE WAS THE LAST THING ON THEIR MIND, SO THE SHELTERS WERE ABANDONED IN PLACE WITH LANDLORDS THROWING OUT RATIONS IN THE GARBAGE FOR THE LAST 40 YEARS, BUT THE ONE THING THAT WILL LAST AND PROBABLE OUTLAST US IS THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF FALLOUT SHELTER SIGNS THAT ARE TACKED ON BUILDINGS THROUGHOUT NYC AND NOBODY HAS REMOVED THEM SO THEY WILL BE THERE FOR YEARS TO COME.

1978 DEFENSE CIVIL PREPAREDNESS AGENCY ONE OF THE LAST NUCLEAR ATTACK PROPAGANDA FILMS "PROTECTION IN THE NUCLEAR AGE"

Despite this film being a us government production and done in cartoon as to prolong its shelf life so its not easy to date it is in fact one of the scariest information films i have seen. This would be played across the United States during International crisis or if a Nuclear Attack was imminent the basic information accompanied by the sound effects and the matter of fact way its presented is scary. This is the best our Government could come up with as the cold war was entering a dangerous time in our history. The Reagan years when more chances of Nuclear War happened than under any other president and Reagan provoked Russia with his SDI program and Bombers and by calling the Soviets the evil empire along with his radio gaffe among lots of things. this DCPA film should be watched as it closed the era of Civil Defense since most americans abandoned community shelter plans and Civil Defense groups during this period as FEMA stepped in and took the reins got rid of the familiar "CD" logo and name and concentrated on natural disaster or Human error even going as far as removing the course offered by their EMI program "Nuclear Attack" . We all got to see FEMA and their new upgraded form of Civil Defense during Hurricane Katrina thats is scary had they left Civil Defense in place New Orleans might have been spared the hell they went through. Imagine a Nuclear Attack occurs in this day and age after FEMAs great response to a Hurricane? God Help Us All... Enjoy the last of the Civil Defense era propaganda films and be thankful we haven't been attacked.  

The script for Protection in the Nuclear Age is both tragic and comic. Above all, the picture portrayed of nuclear war is catastrophically misleading to the American public, because it offers a best case scenario as the only case. The film is a prime example of overly optimistic estimates of survivability in a nuclear war.

-- Gary L. Guertner, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, June 1980

One might assume that the last major movie produced for the U.S. government on the topic of surviving a nuclear war would be more realistic than one made in 1951 – an era before intercontinental ballistic missiles. Surprisingly, this is not the case. CONELRAD recently acquired a copy of Protection in the Nuclear Age, a 16mm motion picture produced in 1978 by Trio Productions, Inc. for the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency (the DCPA was one of the many successor organizations to the FCDA). It is, if anything, even more misleading than the first generation of official survival movies.

Like Survival Under an Atomic Attack before it,Protection in the Nuclear Age began life as a government pamphlet. The 68-page booklet, published by the Government Printing Office in 1977, takes the reader on a heavily illustrated journey to a place called hope. Some of the helpful information imparted includes the following:

A twenty-five megaton nuclear blast is substantially worse than a one megaton explosion…

A cabin cruiser is a perfectly acceptable fallout shelter…

Don’t bring guns, booze or drugs to your civil defense relocation area…

Know where your public shelter is…

Don’t use the telephone during an attack!

The pamphlet does not concern itself with what life might be like after the nuclear war. Like a fine novel, it leaves the reader with something to ponder. Actually, the booklet ends rather abruptly—not with a closing dose of optimism, but with a page declaring that radiation sickness is not contagious.

The 23-minute movie adaptation of Protection in the Nuclear Age is an understated affair. Its narrator dispenses the “facts” of attack and survival in a subdued monotone that is complimented by a very minimalist music score. By contrast, Survival Under an Atomic Attackbegins with the booming voice of Edward R. Murrow and music from what sounds like a World War II movie.

Certain segments of the animated Protection in the Nuclear Age are acted out by stick figures. In the early 1980s, an employee of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA is the agency that replaced DCPA in 1979) explained to author Edward Zuckerman that the decision to forgo live action was made, in part, to prolong the shelf-life of the film. Zuckerman quotes the spokesperson in his essential 1984 book, The Day After World War III, as saying simply: “Stick figures don’t get obsolete as fashion changes.”

Protection in the Nuclear Age begins with a view of the planet earth from space. The narrator intones:

“We live in a world of tension and conflict. And peace, even where it does exist, does so without guarantees for tomorrow. We must therefore face the hard reality that someday a nuclear attack against the United States might occur. And—equally important—we must also realize that horrifying as that prospect may seem, destructive as such an attack might be, we can survive. It would not mean the end of the world, the end of our nation. And you can greatly improve your chances of survival if you’ll remember these facts—about Protection in the Nuclear Age.”

Oddly enough, this introduction echoes the words scripted for Mr. Murrow more than a quarter century earlier for Survival Under an Atomic Attack:

“Let us face without panic, the reality of our time: The fact that atom bombs may someday be dropped on our cities.  And let us prepare for survival by understanding the weapon that threatens us.”   

Protection addresses many of the same points as its source material does, but for some reason, does not include a scene with stick figures seeking refuge from the A-bomb on a boat. It does, however, show plenty of them rushing into a public shelter marked with the familiar black and yellow sign. Left unsaid is that, while many of these shelters remain marked, they were last stocked in the 1960s.

The biggest howler in the film comes during a recitation of a government assessment of the worst case scenario of a nuclear war:

“Defense Department studies show that even under the heaviest possible attack, less than five percent of our entire land mass would be affected by blast and heat from nuclear weapons. Of course, that five percent contains a large percentage of our population. But, even in these high risk areas, if there’s sufficient time to permit evacuation, many millions of lives could be saved. The other ninety-five percent of our land would escape untouched. Except possibly by radioactive fallout.”

The movie ends as it began with words of encouragement delivered as the earth is seen from space:

“The greatest danger is hopelessness, the fear that nuclear attack would mean the end of our world. So why not just give up, lie down and die? That idea could bring senseless and useless death to many, for protection is possible. And your own chances of survival will be much greater if you remember these facts about Protection in the Nuclear Age.”

In a strange subtextual reminder that the government is looking after the viewer like some sort of guardian angel, the animated globe morphs into the DCPA seal as the narration comes to an end.

The thing that makes Protection in the Nuclear Age somewhat unsettling is that, according to Zuckerman, it was the “last movie” many Americans might have seen if the Cold War had not ended peacefully. During the course of his research for The Day After World War III, the author learned that copies of the film had been distributed to civil defense field offices and that some of these prints had, in turn, been given to local television stations. FEMA had also distributed fifteen informational articles to local civil defense officials to provide to local newspapers in the event of an escalating international crisis. In his book, Zuckerman captures the government’s intended strategy:

“The newspaper articles would be supplemented by the twenty-five-minute television film [Protection in the Nuclear Age]…” FEMA has explained. “The cost of such materials is very low, and we estimate that the emergency newspaper articles and television films could add survivors amounting to perhaps eight to twelve percent of the U.S. population.”

Thankfully, there never came a time whenProtection in the Nuclear Age needed to be broadcast. It gathered dust on the shelves of television tape libraries. The only evidence that CONELRAD could find of the movie ever being publicly screened is from an item in the October 4, 1979 edition of the Iowa Democrat newspaper. The article mentions that it was to be shown at an open meeting of the Emmelsburg Junior Civil Defense group, The Pacers.

Now, while we wait to see what the A/V specialists at the Department of Homeland Security come up with, we can sit back and watch Protection in the Nuclear Age . 

THANK YOU TO CONELRAD ADJECENT FOR THE FILM HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION CHECK OUT THEIR MAIN SITE CONELRAD.COM FOR EVERYTHING ON ATOMIC AND CIVIL DEFENSE HISTORY AND EVERYTHING ELSE PROBABLY THE FIRST WEBSITE DEALING WITH THIS GREAT HISTORY AND THEIR LOVE OF IT HAS HAD THEM UNCOVER LOTS OF MISSING INFORMATION AND ATOMIC PROPAGANDA MAKING THEM ONE OF THIS GENRE's GURUS.

1958 - COLD WAR TV - FLIGHT "THE DERELICT"

Flight was a television show from 1958, and this episode is entitled THE DERELICT. It was directed by Jean Yarbrough, written by Arthur Brown, Jr. and features a cast that includes Robert Christopher, Patrick Waltz, Christopher Dark, Ray Montgomery, Ed Perry, William Cassidy, Steve Ihnat. Flight ran from 1958-59 and was hosted by George C. Kenney. In this particular episode a B-47 bomber catches fire in mid-air, and its pilot decides that the 3 men onboard should eject from the crippled B-47. The pilot ejects and the Co Pilots ejection seat fails so he and the observer are left to bail out through a escape hatch but the other crewman who happens to be a pilot who was just catching a ride in the Radar/Navigator position and acting as an observer.tries to bail out his parachute catches on the escape hatch prematurely opening, leaving him no choice but to unbuckle it and stay on board, all alone and with his radio only recieving not transmitting due to the electrical fire,The airmen learns a group of F-89s from a Alaskan  ADC base are scrambled to shoot down the crewless bomber. the airmen has to somehow let the incoming jets sent to shoot down the pilotless aircraft he is alive on board before it crashes in mother Russia with its top secret equipment. Badly burned and suffering from the high altitude he must somehow make his way into the cockpit and get control before he is shot down into the Bering Sea just at the last moment the lead F-89 sees the B-47 acting erratic and wagging its wings and the pilot decides to take a closer look and sees our lone airmen in the Co-Pilots seat flying the crippled B-47.A  happy ending ensues as our doomed airmen takes control of the B-47 and flies the crippled bomber to the Alaskan AFB with the alert interceptors leading the way home.**There is a goof the F-89 scorpion is a two seat fighter but when the Blue flight leader is shown on closeup he is seen in the cockpit of a F-102/106 not the F-89

This is a great movie and shows the B-47 and also F-89 Scorpion fighter(s) that are scrambled to shoot the derelict B-47 before it can crash in enemy (soviet) territory with its classified equipment on board, Great film im not sure if flight is a series on true stories or just fiction not much info was available. just great cold war period television that has some great footage from those Cold War days at its best so sit back and ignore the commercials and give it a go.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing

1950 ATOMIC EPHERMA PRELINGER ARCHIVES

USAF ALERT FORCE "OPERATION HEADSTART or CHROME DOME "SAC AIRBORNE ALERT 1959 LORING AFB

Operation Chrome Dome The Alert Years a USAF Production

OPERATION CHROME DOME MAP SHEPPARD AFB

1966 overview of Operation Chrome Dome related or derivative flights

OPERATION HEADSTART WAS A EARLY NAME GIVEN TO THIS OPERATION

Operation Chrome Dome was a United States Air Force Cold-War era mission from 1960 to 1968 in which B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber aircraft armed with thermonuclear weapons remained on continuous airborne alert, flying routes to points on the Soviet Union border.^[1]

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1Background
• 2Primary mission
• 3Military units
• 4Accidents
• 5Notes
• 6References
• 7External links

Background[edit]

During the Cold War, General Thomas S. Power, a/k/a "Big Dink," initiated a program whereby B-52s performed airborne alert duty under code names such as Head Start, Chrome Dome, Hard Head, Round Robin,^[2] and Operation Giant Lance. Bombers loitered near points outside the Soviet Union to provide rapid first strike or retaliation capability in case of nuclear war.^[3][4]

Primary mission[edit]

The missions in 1964 involved a B-52D that left Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas and flew across the United States to New England and headed out to the Atlantic Ocean. The aircraft refueled over the Atlantic heading north to and around Newfoundland. The bomber changed course and flew northwesterly over Baffin Bay towards Thule Air Base, Greenland. At this point it flew west across Queen Elizabeth Islands of Canada. Continuing to Alaska, it refueled over the Pacific Ocean again heading south-east and returned to Sheppard AFB.^[5]

By 1966, three separate missions were being flown - one East over the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, another north to Baffin Bay, and a third over Alaska.

Military units[edit]

The following military units were involved:

• Strategic Air Command Divisions:
  • 306th Bombardment Wing
  • 494th Bombardment Wing, Sheppard Air Force Base
  • 821st Strategic Aerospace Division
  • 822d Air Division
• Homestead Air Force Base
• Strategic Air Command in the United Kingdom
• 2nd Bomb Wing, 62nd Bomb Squadron Barksdale AFB, Shreveport, LA
• Strategic Air Command 42 Bomb Wing Loring AFB, Limestone, Maine

Accidents[edit]

B-52 Airborne Nuclear Alert route from Homestead AFB, FL to Italy.

The program was involved in the following nuclear-weapons accidents:

• 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash^[6]
• 1961 Yuba City B-52 crash
• 1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crash^{[Notes 1]}
• 1966 Palomares B-52 crash
• 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash. The Thule accident signaled the end of the program on January 22, 1968.

Notes[edit]

1. Jump up^ Accident happened while the aircraft was returning to its home base, having already completed its alert mission.

References[edit]

1. Jump up^ Croddy, Eric; Wirtz, James J. (2005). Weapons of Mass Destruction. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-85109-490-3. The U.S. alert operation, code-named Chrome Dome, was a realistic training mission
2. Jump up^ USAF: Lakenheath AFB Libery Wing
3. Jump up^ "SAC AIRBORNE ALERT". National Museum of the United States Air Force. 14 January 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-01-14. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
4. Jump up^ US Nuclear Weapons Deployments Disclosed, Nautilus Institute
   History of the Custody and Deployment of Nuclear Weapons: July 1945 to September 1977
5. Jump up^ Nautilus.org: Chrome Dome Route Map
6. Jump up^ The Goldsboro Broken Arrow, 2011, ISBN 978-1-257-86952-7

Categories: 

• 1960 establishments in the United States
• 1960 in international relations
• 1960 in military history
• 1960s in the United States
• 1960s in the Soviet Union
• Nuclear history of the United States
• Nuclear warfare
• Secret military programs
• Soviet Union–United States relations
• Military operations of the Cold War
• United States nuclear command and control
• 1960 in politics

DECLASSIFIED  USAF  FILM ON OPERATION CHROME DOME 

** the film quality is poor and these two reels of once classified information that only Curtis LeMay and the Joint Chiefs and the POTUS only had access to these reels, they were saved and a effort was made to make them viewable. This history was almost lost before it was DECLASSIFIED for PUBLIC Viewing.**

PART ONE

THIS DECLASSIFIED FILM OF THE OPERATION HEADSTART PROJECT THAT KEPT B-52s COMBAT READY AIRBORNE ON 20hr FLIGHTS WITH A NEW FLIGHT AIRBORNE EVERY SIX HOURS  CARRYING FULL CREW AND BOMB PACKAGE AS WELL AS TARGET CONFIRMATION ORDERS LOCKED UP IN A SAFE ON BOARD THE BOMBER A HOLLYWOOD VIEW OF THIS WAS IN DR STRANGELOVE WITH SLIM PICKENS AS THE PILOT READY FOR "TOE TO TOE NUCLEAR COMBAT WITH THE RUSSKIES" THESE AIRCRAFT DEPARTED LORING AFB IN MAINE AND FLEW PRE ARRANGED PATTERNS FOR 20 HRS EATING SPECIALLY SUPPLIED MEALS AND WORKED AND RESTED IN SHIFTS. THE FOOTAGE SHOWN WAS FOR BRIEFING THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF AND EVEN THE PRESIDENT ON THE OPERATION. THE NARRATOR IS COMPLETELY CONVINCED THAT A RUSSIAN STRIKE VIA ICBMS AND BOMBERS IS GOING TO HAPPEN AND THE UNITED STATES CAN ONLY BE READY FOR THIS. FOOTAGE LIKE THIS IS PRICELESS AND IT MAY SHOW A LITTLE WEAR BUT IT IS COMPELLING TO WATCH AND SEE THE TANKERS REFUELING B-52s WITH ONE EYE COVERED IN CASE A NUCLEAR DEVICE WERE TO GO OFF AND BLIND THE KC-135 REFUELING OPERATOR HE COULD REMOVE THE EYE PATCH AND USE THE ONE COVERED AND IT HAS THE B-52 CREWS FLYING WITH THEIR PROTECTION FROM FLASH AND RADIATION WINDOW SHIELDS FLYING BY INSTRUMENTS, THE THING THAT MAKES THIS SO SPECIAL IS THESE CREWS WERE FLYING REAL MISSIONS WHILE BEING FILMED. GREAT COLD WAR HISTORY, AND THIS IS PART ONE>

     PART TWO OF OP HEADSTART   

PART TWO "OPERATION HEADSTART"

1959 STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND LORING AFB

B-52 FLIGHTS COMBAT READY WITH THERMONUCLEAR

WEAPONS ON BOARD AND LIVE AMMUNITION THIS TYPE

OF FLIGHT HAS GONE BY OPERTION CHROME DOME AND THAT OP FLEW COMBAT READY AIRBORNE ALERT TWENTY FOUR HOURS A DAY 365 DAYS A YEAR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS COLD WAR TACTIC AND OPERATION CAN BE FOUND BELOW IF YOU WERE A PART OF THIS PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW AND A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR PART IN THIS, YOUR MEMORIES ARE IMPORTANT TO FUTURE GENERATIONS ARE JUST E-MAIL ME @ FALLOUTSHELTERNYC@GMAIL.COM

BELOW IS SOME PAPERS ON THE GOLDSBORO BROKEN ARROW AFTER AN ALERT AIRCRAFT WENT DOWN AND CRASHED IN GOLDSBORO N.C.

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