Gaia
20th October 2015, 22:08
As a child of the Cold War, every time they play the Emergency Broadcast System signal for a missing kid from Amber Alerts, for at least a moment or two I'm sure it's the missiles! I am just barely old enough that we had nuclear attack drills in my elementary school (in Canada) and I remember pretty clearly being about 5 or 6 and suddenly realizing that all the stuff I kept hearing adults talk about was actually related to the real not pretend possible imminent end of the world.
I don't really feel like I was traumatized by it. But every time my thoughts turn to nuclear war, I find that I am once again 5 years old, huddling in the gymnasium of my school waiting for the nuclear attack drill to be over...
''The following message is transmitted at the request of North American Aerospace Defense Command. Two nuclear missiles are heading for the United States. Take shelter now.''
''The following message is transmitted at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration. An unidentified aircraft has been located near the state of Florida. The aircraft is presumed to be foreign, and may pose a threat to the area.''
BxADDxPykyo
Where else?
This is BBC television from London. Normal programming has been suspended:
rcJCLf-Uv74
Please stand by for our broadcast from the National Emergency Warning System:
9johhpas2Y0
The Air Force Emergency Broadcast System people made a mistake once (During the Cold War) and sent out the actual authentic alert message instead of the test one!
Here's a recording of what happened on a couple of stations:
1B1EAeh6H_I
We forget the dangers that are always with us and focus on the novelties. Many of us were children at a time when imminent nuclear destruction was a danger that was always with us.
Terrorism and politically motivated violence was just as likely in the 60s and 70s as it is now. More likely then than now, if you lived in Québec,USA, London, Paris, Tokyo, Rome... It just never managed to dominate the public imagination while the looming threat of nuclear war seemed so much bigger.
Gaia
I don't really feel like I was traumatized by it. But every time my thoughts turn to nuclear war, I find that I am once again 5 years old, huddling in the gymnasium of my school waiting for the nuclear attack drill to be over...
''The following message is transmitted at the request of North American Aerospace Defense Command. Two nuclear missiles are heading for the United States. Take shelter now.''
''The following message is transmitted at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration. An unidentified aircraft has been located near the state of Florida. The aircraft is presumed to be foreign, and may pose a threat to the area.''
BxADDxPykyo
Where else?
This is BBC television from London. Normal programming has been suspended:
rcJCLf-Uv74
Please stand by for our broadcast from the National Emergency Warning System:
9johhpas2Y0
The Air Force Emergency Broadcast System people made a mistake once (During the Cold War) and sent out the actual authentic alert message instead of the test one!
Here's a recording of what happened on a couple of stations:
1B1EAeh6H_I
We forget the dangers that are always with us and focus on the novelties. Many of us were children at a time when imminent nuclear destruction was a danger that was always with us.
Terrorism and politically motivated violence was just as likely in the 60s and 70s as it is now. More likely then than now, if you lived in Québec,USA, London, Paris, Tokyo, Rome... It just never managed to dominate the public imagination while the looming threat of nuclear war seemed so much bigger.
Gaia