How To Prepare For Nuclear War

 

According To Me At Age Seven In 1962.

In October of 1962, the Soviet Union, whatever that is, started to deliver missiles - which is a type of rocket, but without an astronaut - to Cuba, an island near Florida.

We knew this because earlier in the evening President Kennedy came on TV, on all the channels at the same time, and spoke in a serious voice. 

I already had an idea it was going to be about serious stuff because Dad came home from work early and we had early dinner and then we all went into the living room to watch President Kennedy. All of this was way different than the usual evening. Dad never came home from work early, he was always a little late. And after we ate dinner, my two older sisters would take turns on the telephone, calling their friends, while my younger sister and I would play. But here we all were in the living room, watching President Kennedy.

I wasn’t sure I understood what the President was telling us. I looked over at my dad and I could tell I’d better wait till the President was done before I asked questions. Dad had a very serious look on his face.

Okay, President Kennedy was done and there were news guys talking about what the President said about the missiles. I figured I could talk with my dad. I asked him if the missiles could hit Chicago, if they could hit our home. Dad said the missiles could hit Chicago, but there was no way of telling where the missiles might go. I decided I’d better have a plan in case a missile came through our front window. I practiced jumping out of the way of the missile, letting it go past me.

Mom and Dad didn’t seem cheerful or relaxed. Dad had his arms crossed, looking straight ahead, thinking about things. Mom sat with her hands folded in her lap. Regular TV programs were back on, so I watched for a while till it was time to go to bed.

The next day at school our teacher said we were going to practice what to do in case missiles were coming toward Chicago. I was thinking of telling her I had already practiced, but it seemed like a good time to just sit quietly. She had that same look on her face that my dad had the night before, although she was also trying to look like our teacher.

We were told to walk out to the hallway and stand single file along the lockers. This wasn’t much different than the tornado drills we had from time to time. We’d sit by our lockers, then go back to our desks. But once we were in the hallway our teacher said we were going to the basement. The basement? I didn’t know our school had a basement. We walked single file to a door we’d never been through. Carefully we descended a metal staircase, hands on the railing, down into the school basement. This was a new adventure. It was dark and the entire space was filled with big machines that were humming and shaking.

This practice was different in another way. There wasn’t room for all the students in the basement. So one class at a time would go down, then come back up. I didn’t see how that was going to work if the missiles were headed our way.

On the walk home from school, I thought about the Soviet Union, the missiles, Cuba, and the way the adults weren’t their usual selves. This was a lousy situation. And Halloween was coming up in a matter of days. I was hoping the missile thing didn’t get in the way of trick-or-treating.

Things pretty much stayed this way for the next few weeks. At school, lessons continued. We had some more practices, though we didn’t return to the basement. We sat by our lockers, like we did for a tornado drill. 

So, preparing for a nuclear war. It’s not much different than your usual day. You should practice your drills. And don’t bother the adults too much. They have a lot on their minds.