YOU BET YOUR LIFE.. AND THE LIVES OF YOUR FAMILY IF YOU FAIL TO....... (1963)

THIS GREAT CIVILDEFENSE ADVERTISEMENT COMES FROM A SITE WITH SOME GREAT CIVIL DEFENSE RECORDINGS BOTH VIDEO AND AUDIO AND IS WORTH CHECKING OUT IF YOU LOVE HISTORY ITS AUTHENTICHISTORY.COM JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOU HAVE SEEN IT ALL...........

NYC NIKE SITE NY-15 AIR DEFENSE FROM THE ISLAND OF THE DEAD

COLLIERS MAGAZINE ARTISTIC RENDERING OF NYC (NEW YORK COUNTY) MANHATTAN  WITH A DETONATION OF A SOVIET ATOMIC WEAPON AROUND MIDTOWN VIA A LONG RANGE SOVIET
New York City at risk, 1950--In "Hiroshima U.S.A." artist Chesley Bonestell imagined an atomic bomb attack on the city. Painted for the cover of Collier's, August 5, 1950 (reproduced courtesy of Bonest BOMBER GETTING THROUGH THE AIR DEFENSE NETWORK AROUND NYC

 NY-15 Fort Slocum (david and harts islands) Davids Island Home to the Fire Control Point And Radar And Tracking Facilities Shared The Island With A USAF Base That Did Not Have Flight Operations Or Defense Capabilities And Hundreds of Years Of History While Its Brother Harts Island Was The Island Where Potters Field Was and Various Correctional Facilities ,The Missile Men Shared Space With Over 3/4 s of Million People,..Dead That is And if you were  on The Island You Were Part of  Or Were a

1) US Army NIKE Missileer 2) NYC Corrections Officer 3) Rikers Island  Inmate 4)The Walking Dead

The US Army Left The Island to NYC Corrections in 1963  all other New York Area NIKE sites Lasted till At Least 1975, Weird....

Aerial view of the Integrated Fire Control Area for Nike missile Battery NY-15 at Fort Slocum (adjacent to center and lower right mortar pits), looking north, late  1950s

.               AERIAL VIEW OF HART ISLAND Battery NY-15:“Combat-Ready Outfit”

In a 2007 interview, Rich Lowery, who served as a radar operator in the Sighting Station from 1959 to 1961, described daily life at the battery. Most of the work was routine: daily radar adjustment, constant tracking of local commercial and military air traffic, regular shifts on guard duty and administrative tasks, studying, waiting and watching. There were drills too, of course, and on a couple of occasions, there was the excitement of a real alert when an unknown aircraft flew into the battery’s patrol sector

Mr. Lowery remembers the pride he and his fellow crewmen felt in their work. It was the Cold War, and they "were a… combat-ready outfit.”

THE AMAZING NIKE FACILITY KNOWN AS NY-15 IN THE LONG ISLAND SOUND 1 MILE FROM MANHATTAN ISLAND STANDING ON THE ELEVATED PLATFORM OF THE J TRAIN AT MYRTLE AVENUE IF YOU LOOK NORTH SOME OF THE RADIO TRANSMISSIONS TOWERS ARE VISIBLE WAY ACROSS QUEENS AND KINGS (BROOKLYN) COUNTIES AND CAN BE SEEN FROM CITY ISLAND BEACH IN THE BRONX

RADAR LOCATION BEING CHECKED AT THE CONTROL POINT THE RADIO TOWER IN THE BACKGROUND IS QUITE POSSIBLY THE TOWER VISIBLE FROM BROOKLYN

SCHOOL FIELD TRIP TO NY-15 NIKE FACILITY OF NYC AREA SHOWN IS THE NIKE "AJAX" THE FIRST OF THE ANTI AIR MISSILES DEPLOYED AROUND LARGE CITIES THIS INCLUDED  GROUND TO AIR ARTILERY UNITS AND WERE SETUP  SOMETIMES INDEPENDENT OF A NIKE UNIT INSIDE CITY LIMITS, WHAT IF THIS TYPE OF AIR DEFENSE WAS  CURRENT TECHNOLOGY HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF IT WERE USED TO DOWN A HIJACKED 757 HEADED TOWARDS A CITY OR NUCEAR POWER PLANT? THE MEN WHO WERE RESPONSIBLE BACK THEN HAD TO BE SURE THE UNIDENTIFIED AIRCRAFT WAS AN ENEMY AIRCRAFT WHEN ONE STRAYED INTO THE RADAR AREA FOR THIS NIKE BATTERY, ITS A LOT OF RESPONSIBILITY AND DON'T FORGET THEY DID COME IN NUCLEAR VARIETYS AT OTHER NY SITES. 

PERIMETER FENCING AROUND THE HART ISLAND NIKE SITE WAS PATROLLED BY K-9 TEAMS AND JEEP PATROLS AS WELL AS SEARCHLIGHTS IN CERTAIN AREAS  



HERE A US ARAADCOM  UNIT EXPLAINS THE MISSION OF PROTECTION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK NEXT TO A MOBILE LAUNCHER  ARMED WITH A NIKE AJAX CONTAINING A H.E.High Explosive) WARHEAD NOT  the NUCLEAR TYPE

A TEXTBOOK SCHEMATIC OF THE AVERAGE NIKE MISSILE BATTERY LAUNCH AREA

HERE A US ARMY NIKE CREW SIT ON THE LAUNCHER OF A NIKE UNIT  NEW YORK NIKE MISILEERS  WERE ONE OF THE MOST DECORATED UNITS WINNING MANY PRACTICE WARGAMES AND ABILITY TO SET UP AND PUT THEIR MISSILE ON TARGET EXERCISES FASTER THAN ANY OTHER
IN THE NATION 

US ARMY OPEN HOUSE WITH NIKE AJAX IN FOREGROUND ON DAVIDS ISLAND AFTER 1963 OR FORT SLOCUM THE ISLANDS IN THE WESTERN PART OF LONG ISLAND SOUND ARE SO FULL OF HISTORY ITS A SHAME THEY WERE NOT PRESERVED AND HARTS ISLAND IS UNAPPROACHABLE DUE TO ITS CONNECTION WITH RIKERS ISLAND. INMATES WORKING AT POTTERS FIELD WHICH HAS BEEN ON THE ISLAND A HUNDRED +YEARS  INTER NYCs INDIGENT AND UNCLAIMED BODIES OF THE DECEASED WITH NO FAMILY AND ARE BURIED IN LARGE PITS.

ANNA M CROSS TOURS HARTS ISLANDDOC PUTS BASE BUILDINGS TO USE
The caption for the above photo in DOC's 1962 annual report reads: "At the opening of the new housing quarters for minor offenders on Hart island, Director of Operations Anthony Principe, Commissioner Anna M. Kross and Warden Edward Dros review the potential of the new annex. Note the army-barracks huts in the rear. Inmate labor performs landscaping and maintenance chores." [From the NYCHS-maintained archives at the NYC DOC Academy

THE END OF THE ISLAND AND DEACTIVATION OF THE NIKE SITE

JUST IN HISTORY OF THESE ISLANDS I COULD START A WEBPAGE HUNDREDS OF YEARS OF USING THE ISLANDS TO HOUSE INMATES,CIVIL WAR PRISONERS,WAYWARD YOUTH,POTTERS FIELD,NIKE SITE ,ETC

One of the first Nike missile sites constructed within the New York metropolitan area was a site known as Nike missile battery "NY-15." Site NY-15 was also one of the most unusual Nike installations, for its facilities were constructed on two separate islands located in the extreme western portion of Long Island Sound. 

The site's headquarters and its Control Area (containing the site's radars and the ground-based missile guidance equipment) were located on Davids Island, near New Rochelle. Its Launcher Area (containing the missiles and< the launching infrastructure) was constructed on nearby Hart Island. By building on these two islands, the Army was able to quickly establish site NY-15 with a minimum of effort, avoiding the often difficult and contentious process of acquiring parcels of privately-owned land from individual owners.

MISSILE ASSEMBLY & TEST BUILDING (Ruins)


The fins and control surfaces of the missiles were attached within the building that stood here where also their internal guidance equipment was tested before they were moved to the adjacent fueling and warheading area. A portion of the curving concrete path over which the missiles were moved can be still be seen at the north end of the foundation.

Davids Island was already under federal control. It was the site of Fort Slocum, a seacoast fort established during the mid-19th century to defend the approaches to New York City. During the latter half of the 20th century, Fort Slocum served as a headquarters for various military commands and was also the site of several armed forces schools. Due to the location of its headquarters and Control Area at this installation, Nike missile site NY-15 was also known as the Fort Slocum Nike missile battery.

The limited size of Davids Island, however, dictated that the Launcher Area containing the missiles had to be located elsewhere. Hart Island, located some two miles to the southwest, provided a relatively easy solution in this situation. The island was already owned by the City of New York. Due to its use by the Department of Correction, casual visitors were not permitted. Hart Island's proximity to Davids Island, and the clear and unobstructed "line of sight" between the two islands (an essential requirement of the Nike ground-based guidance and control system) made it an appropriate location for the Army's new missile launching facility.

CRANE - ACID FUELING AREA

The most dangerous operations were performed within a compound here where sloping earthen walls (now largely obscured by vegetation) were constructed to deflect the force of an accidental explosion. The missiles received their liquid fuel/oxidizer mixture here and the warheads were inserted before the missiles were joined to their booster rockets. The crane was used to lift and move the missiles and other components.

Nike missile battery NY-15, the only missile site within to New York metro area to be located entirely on two offshore islands, was declared operational during 1955. It was initially designated as Battery "D" of the Army's 66th Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion. Headquartered at historic Fort Totten in northern Queens, the 66th Battalion also controlled three additional Nike missile batteries defending the New York metropolitan area

Nike missile site NY-15's Launcher Area was situated within a narrow parcel of land within the northern half of Hart Island. The Launcher Area contained all of the facilities needed to assemble, test, store and launch the site's compliment of twenty supersonic Nike Ajax missiles.

One important function of the Launcher Area was the initial assembly and testing of the missiles. Due to Interstate Commerce Commission regulations restricting shipments of explosive materials, Nike Ajax missiles had to be shipped to Nike missile sites nationwide in an unassembled condition. Major components (missile bodies, fins, booster rockets and warheads) were transported to the Hart Island site by means of a special pier complex constructed by the Army on the island's western shore

THE INSIDE OF THE IFC INTEGRATED FIRE CONTROL AREA ON DAVIDS ISLAND

 THE TWO ISLANDS ARE VERY DIFFERENT AND DAVID ISLAND HAS THE EMPTY BUILDINGS AND CIVIL WAR ERA JAILS AND CHURCHES A VERY BEAUTIFU PLACE BUT OVER ON HARTS DO NOT GET CAUGHT NYC CORRECTIONS ARE NYCs BOLDEST or TOUGHEST AND TRESPASSING COULD BE CONSTRUED AS YOU WERE LEAVING SOMETHING FOR A INMATE TO GET WHILE WORKING AT POTTERS FIELD AND ESCAPE WITH OR BRING BACK INTO THE FACIITY, THEY DO NOT PLAY, NIGHTIME TRIPS SUCK SINCE ITS DARK AND NOT ENJOYABLE SO DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME , IF YOU CAMP OUT BE VERY DISCREET AND LEAVE BEFORE 3pn Courtesy of urban spelunking friends....





THE FORT SLOCUM (DAVIDS ISLAND )WATER TOWER,
THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE HAD A BASE ON THE ISLAND THAT WAS FOR VARIOUS DUTIES WITH NO AIR OPERATIONS OR DEFENSE OPERATIONS

TEENS DROWN TRYING TO VISIT NIKE SITE
 A boat believed to have been used by the four teenage boys who vanished in the frigid waters off City Island a week ago has been found at nearby Hart Island, police said yesterday.

Harbor cops spotted the capsized 7-foot fiberglass dinghy Friday morning when ice shifted, police said. The black-hulled craft with a beige interior was in shallow water about 30 feet from the Hart Island shoreline.
The discovery was seen as grim confirmation of the boys' fate, but the parents of one teen refused to accept the boat as evidence their son is dead.
No trace of the youths has been found.
An exhaustive search effort covering 60 miles of Long Island Sound was launched Jan. 25 for four friends - Max Guarino, 17, of Manhattan; Henry Badillo, 17, of the Bronx; Charles (Carlo) Wertenbaker, 16, of City Island, and Andrew Melnikov, 16, of the upper East Side - who apparently had set out from City Island for Hart Island, a half-mile away, in a rowboat the previous night.
'We're gonna die'
The last contact from them was a 12-second call to 911 in which Henry said, "Hello . . . we're on the Long Island Sound in a boat off the coast of City I. . . . We're gonna die."
(the bodies were not found until May)

Brief History of Hart Island Nike Missile Site


-- The Cold War in LI Sound: Part III --

By Donald E. Bender




The entire base was enclosed behind steel cyclone type fences topped barbed wire and access was strictly controlled by armed sentries. Large warning signs, posted at regular intervals, helped to discourage curious boaters from attempting to land and trespass.


The base also contained a Generator Building featuring diesel generators that supplied electrical power to the missile site whenever an alert was called. Internal power was used during practice alerts in order to simulate actual wartime conditions during which the region's electrical power grid might have become unstable due to bomb damage, the electromagnetic effects of nuclear detonations or deliberate sabotage.
The Hart Island missile site and all of its "sister" sites within the New York metropolitan area were initially equipped with the first-generation Nike missile system known as Nike Ajax.Beginning in 1958, however, select Nike installations within the region were upgraded to fire a new, second-generation Nike missile known as the Nike Hercules.



The Nike Hercules missile represented a vast improvement over the Nike Ajax. It offered a higher maximum speed, improved altitude capabilities, and roughly three times the range of its predecessor. More significantly, the Nike Hercules could be armed with a powerful, defensive nuclear warhead enabling a single Hercules missile to destroy a formation of several attacking aircraft.
The greatly enhanced capabilities of the Nike Hercules system meant that fewer missile sites were required to defend the New York metropolitan area. Only 10 of the original 19 Nike missile sites in the region were upgraded to use the Army's new missile system. Some of the sites equipped with the new Hercules missiles remained in operation through 1974. By contrast, all of the unmodified Nike Ajax equipped sites in the region were inactivated by 1963. Probably due to its close proximity to the center of the New York Defense Area, Nike site NY-15 did not receive the new Nike Hercules missile system. It continued to operate its Nike Ajax missiles until it was finally inactivated during 1961.
NIKE BASE CLOSING

The Army presents NYC Correction Commissioner Anna M. Kross with a wooden propeller from a target aircraft in this digital version of the Hart Island Nike base-closing ceremonies photo. [From the NYCHS-maintained archives at the NYC DOC Academy.]

Battery "D" of the Army's 1st Battalion, 55th Artillery - the second and final unit to command this site - held its final inactivation ceremonies on June 30, 1961. During the ceremonies, the battery commander presented New York City Department of Correction Commissioner Anna M. Kross with a wooden propeller from a Radio Controlled Aerial Target or "RCAT." Also attending the inactivation ceremonies on Hart Island that day were the Deputy Correction Commissioner and the Hart Island Warden.
Following the deactivation of the Army's Nike facility, the New York City Department of Correction acquired the former Hart Island missile installation. On July 23, 1962, the DOC opened a new facility for the "housing of family court cases and traffic offenders". Commissioner Anna M. Kross presided over the opening. DOC PUTS BASE BUILDINGS TO USE

The caption for the above photo in DOC's 1962 annual report reads: "At the opening of the new housing quarters for minor offenders on Hart island, Director of Operations Anthony Principe, Commissioner Anna M. Kross and Warden Edward Dros review the potential of the new annex. Note the army-barracks huts in the rear. Inmate labor performs landscaping and maintenance chores." [From the NYCHS-maintained archives at the NYC DOC Academy.]



The Army's prefabricated, steel Utica-style barracks, left behind after the site was closed, provided accommodations for the island's new temporary residents. The Army's diesel-powered electrical generation facility remained in use and was operated for the DOC by inmates residing on the island.



Numerous relics of the Army's Hart Island missile launching facility remain visible today. Close to the island's northern end, the exterior surfaces of the two underground missile magazines are easily discerned. The adjacent fueling and warheading area remains intact, although its protective earthen berms are now heavily overgrown with vegetation. A rusted crane designed to lift and move missiles now stands idle near the center of this facility.

AIR VENTALATION HOODS SURVIVE THE NEGLECT ON HARTS ISLAND .HERE THE MISSILE MAGAZINE  OVERGROWN AND CLOSED ARE DISAPPEARING INTO HARTS ISLAND.

INMATES REPLACE SOLDIERS AT BASE

Under "Workhouse of the City of New York," the following text

"On July 23, 1962, the abandoned US Army Nike Missile Base located at this institution was opened as a facility for the housing of Family Court cases and traffic offenders . . . Here 105 first offender traffic and family commitments are satisfactorily and healthfully housed in the metal Utica-type barracks buildings abanonded by the army . . . "Inmates housed therein do all sanitation and other minor maintenance requirements, along with the establishment of inmate fire watchers on a 24-hour basis. Inmates are also assigned to the disel-powered generator plant where they have successfully mantained efficient and continual operation of all power plant facilitAcademy.]

Further south, foundation remnants of the demolished Missile Assembly and Test Building can be distinguished. Several concrete slab foundations, created to support the Army's prefabricated barracks, are located nearby. Although the barracks were eventually removed by the Department of Corrections, the Army's combined kitchen and mess hall remains intact. It currently serves inmates from the Riker's Island correctional facility who have volunteered to perform burial or landscaping activities on Hart Island. On the island's western shore, the pier complex constructed by the Army to move men, missiles and supplies to and from the Nike installation lies abandoned and unused.

Today, the Cold War is but a memory. New Yorkers no longer live in profound fear of a nuclear Armageddon. The tense and often frightening circumstances of that era which brought the Army and its Nike missiles to Hart Island are long past. A monument erected by inmates on the island during 1948 stands close to the abandoned missile site. Inscribed on its northern facade is a single word: PEACE. How times have changd

THE PEACE MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BEFORE THE NIKE SITE 1948 BY PRISONERS WHY? WAS IT TO APPEASE RESTLESS SPIRITS OF THE DEAD THAT ARE BURIED HERE ON HARTS ISLAND THE OFFICIAL AMOUNT IS IN THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS I WOULD SAY IT IS PROBABLY CLOSER TO OVER A MILLION SINCE THE RECORDS KEPT ON POTTERS FIELD MOST LIKELY WERE NOT SCRUTINIZED AND THEY HAVE BEEN DOING THIS HERE HUNDREDS OF YEARS, I TEACH A CLASS ON RIKERS ONCE A MONTH AND HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET PERMISSION TO GO OUT TO HARTS ISLAND FOR A VISIT AND IT IS HARD , MR BENDER IS A LUCKY GUY TO HAVE BEEN ABLE TO VISIT THIS SITE AND I USE SOME OF HIS HISTORY FROM A CORRECTIONS WEBSITE, THIS TWO ISLAND  BASE IS A UNIQUE DEFENSE SYSTEM AND I AM SUPRISED IT WAS NOT USED AT A BETTER CAPACITY BY UPGRADING IT TO HERCULES TYPE MISSILES ,EVEN WITH THE CLOSE PROXIMITY TO NYC THE ISLANDS COULD OF BEEN USED ALOT BETTER THAN A PLACE FOR CIVIL WAR POWS AND THE CONSTANT JAIL THEMED USES AND AN ISLAND OF  BURYING THE POOR.
THE ISLAND WAS NEVER UPGRADED TO A NUCLEAR WARHEAD CARRYING HERCULES TYPE MISSILE  BUT I CAME ACROSS THIS STORY AThttp://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread321772/pg

This information comes to me from a retired USA Air Force officer, who was dating my elderly and widowed aunt last year. Based upon my own investigation, the story seems plausible.



#



Hart Island is a small and somewhat desolate island off the coast of the Bronx Borough of New York City, in Long Island Sound. The island is off limits to the public. You will be arrested if you make any attempt to approach the island.



In the 1950s and 1960s, this island was home to a highly secret base, containing at least 24 Nike Ajax missiles. This comprised part of the USA anti-ballistic missile system, to protect New York City, intended as a last-line of defense against a nuclear air attack by the USSR or other foreign nuclear power.



In the 1960’s, there was an attempt to replace the missile with a later generation weapon system known as the Nike Hercules missile. Unlike the Nike Ajax, this new system used nuclear tipped warheads so as to more reliably kill incoming bombers and missiles.



In 1961, a single nuclear tipped Nike Hercules missile was moved onto Hart Island as an initial, and fully operational deployment. The nuclear warhead was stored separately from the missile, but was occasionally installed on it during drills and exercises, which happened every few months.



Whenever the nuclear warhead was added to the missile (a process which took a full day) there were several safeguards. To prevent accidental triggering of the warhead, a special mechanical interlock – a “safing key” – had to be physically from the warhead, and insert into the fire control panel. The fire control panel could not be disconnected from the radar system, and put in “drill mode”, until this special key had been inserted into its proper “safe” location.



According to my source, the second or third time they conducted an operational drill, they had to stop the simulated firing of the missile due to a technical problem. They decided to scratch the test. When they went to remove the warhead, a supervisor found this safing key was still inserted!



The key that had been inserted into the fire control panel was a SPARE key. Apparently, the technicians had not realized that the key inserted into the fire control panel was suppose to be the same key that existed on the warhead. The warhead had not been adequately disabled.



Here is the scariest part. The technical glitch, which had stopped the exercise, was that an accelerometer had blown out, so that the warhead thought the missile had actually been launched. This was the second (and only) safety that prevented nuclear detonation.



Given the failure of the accelerometer, and failure to remove the safing key from the warhead, if the exercise had not been stopped, THE NIKE NUCLEAR WARHEAD WOULD HAVE DETONATED.



Note: This small, desolate, unapproachable Hart Island is only about five miles from the center of Manhattan Island, New York City.



#



To anyone with inside info. Do you think this story could be true?

REMEMBER DO NOT KILL THE MESSENGER , MAY BE IT WAS TRUE MAY BE NOT I WILL KEEP ON EYE ON THAT POST TO SEE THE OUTCOME.SOME OF THIS POST WAS FROM DON BENDER A MAN DEDICATED TO KEEPING THIS GREAT HISTORY ALIVE.  THANK YOU.

Bender Associates Historical Consultants. A recognized authority on Cold War air defense facilities, his activities have been featured in major media including the New York Times, WNBC-TV and National Public Radio. He maintains an extensive web site on Nike Missiles and Missile Sites. He can be reached via e-mail at bender@alpha.fdu.edu or by telephone at (973) 535-8362

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

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.