Missle crisis memories

**Luke** · March 28th, 2011, 18:36

Since many on this board are around the same age, I would be interested to hear if anyone remembers their experiences of the time? Here is what I recall,

October of 62. I was 9 years old. We did not have color TV yet. It was a time of model planes and cars. Girls were begining to hold interest, but I was still more interested in building airplane models. I had recieved a crystal radio that Christmas and I remember being very excited when I was able to find the 2nd station.

I wish I had paid more attention to my parents expressions when President Kennedy came on TV and announced that Cuba had missles. I do remember it a little strange how serious and quite my Dad was that evening.

Another thing that sticks with me even today was going for a family drive and having to wait for a train to cross. It seemed to take forever and I was amazed to see Army tanks on it. Years later I realized they were headed south, probably to the gulf coast. To this day I remember the look in Dad's eye. It was at that minute it all became real to me. That night my folks told me and my sisters that we might take a week out of school and have and early vacation with my Aunt in Claremore Oklahoma. At the time we were all elated at the prospect of no school. Again, years later I realized we were right in the middle of ICBM central. Whiteman AFB was the command center for all the Minuteman sites in this area. I know in this county where 4 of the sites were.

Even through all this my Dad continued to go to work every day. I don't recall any panic or urgenecy to catch the evening news, but I am sure there must have been.

That is about all I remember except being bummed out when we found out we were not taking an early vacation and had to continue with education.

Any takers?

**American Patriot** · March 28th, 2011, 19:27

Luke....

Sure. I'll take this one too.

I was pretty young - 5. But I remember watching the TV with mom. It was a huge console tv (by our standards today, was probably a huge cabinet, maybe 26" TV, but beautiful wood). Black and White.

I don't really remember too many details, other than pictures of ships, and pictures (like drawings done for the news) showing what everyone thought we might know.

I remember mostly the fear in my mom's eyes though. I knew something was up and her and dad would talk about it. My baby sister and I would sit there watching TV and I'd listen but really don't remember enough to think I could comprehend it all. I knew the situation was scary and knew it involved atom bombs. I was certainly smart enough as a 5 year old to recognize those when I saw them on television.

The main thing I recall was "we went on vacation". A couple of days into everything I remember Dad coming home early one afternoon and mom was one of those over-protective moms who wouldn't let me play in the backyard even though it was nice out. I remember I wanted to play in the leaves... but NO!

That night after I went to bed I remember being awakened late at night, perhaps it was midnight, I don't know. Dad carried me out to the car and put me in the back seat. No he didn't buckle me in, us kids were much tougher in those days and lived through car accidents (I suspect the cars had a little to do with that as well).

We drove the rest of the night and I mostly slept. When I awakened, I was in Kentucky in the mountains headed for Granny's house. We spent our vacation there playing under the maple trees.

I don't remember anything else about how the situation was solved or what happened. I do remember that suddenly everyone was happier, and I had more fun. Then we went back to Detroit.

I started school not long after that. The next spring I think it was I started in kindergarten - Tendler Elementary school. I remember the Duck and Cover drills throughout kindergarten and first grade. I can't remember doing them in second grade off hand.

Now - many years later when it occurred to me to ask - I found out mom and dad had decided to get us out of Detroit, which in those days and likely still is was a major nuclear target. They took us to Kentucky (Knox County, in a place called Boone Heights where we stayed for about three weeks according to Dad). They were concerned if the situation went the wrong way that the Russians would nuke us. He wanted to save his kids.

He was not the ONLY factory worker who took time off work to do what he did. Many of the companies actually shut down all but a skeleton crew - according to my father. Dad is 75 now and I spoke to him some time back about (couple or three years ago maybe). He remembered it as clearly as if it all happened yesterday. He was, so he said, scared of the Russians slagging the United States.

Dad was one of those rare Marines who survived a massive battle in Korea AND walked through, not one, but two atomic bomb craters within hours of the detonation of those bombs in Nevada. So he was quite aware of the awesome destructive capabilities of such weapons.

So - that makes two of us that "went on vacation" during that period of our lives.

Btw - Luck. Damn you're WAY older than me /wink

**Luke** · March 28th, 2011, 20:15

Duck and Cover, I had forgotten that bit of sillines. To be clear we never made it to Oklahoma that October. I find it interesting that your parents were in save the kids mode also. I suppose a lot of folks were in that position.

I also remember the whole class taking 2 different meds. One was a vitamin C tablet and the other was called a "sunshine" pill. Yellow and green tablet. They stopped the sunshine pills in 2nd grade and vitamin C by 4th. Probably explains some of the 60's for me.

**American Patriot** · March 28th, 2011, 20:19

hehehe sunshine pill huh? Was that the beginning of drugging the kids in school? Lithium or something? LOL

**Backstop** · March 28th, 2011, 21:58

Interesting.

Sorry I can't add anything.

I was 5 in 62, and I rarely if ever watched TV.

Still kinda the same...well, except I'm older.

**American Patriot** · March 28th, 2011, 21:59

You don't remember the grown ups being in a tizzy or anything?

Backstop, I was five and I remember it.

On, the other hand I have very, very early memories at about 2......

**Backstop** · March 28th, 2011, 22:46

Nope.

At that age, only thing I wanted from adults was baseball or hockey gear.

I really did live kinda weird - nothing mattered except those 2 sports; I lived, ate, and breathed that until about 1975.

**Toad** · March 29th, 2011, 12:37

Little before my time. I was born in '66. Real memories for me start about '70-'71.

**Luke** · March 29th, 2011, 15:22

Damn I am beggining to feel like the old fart, Get Off My Lawn!

**American Patriot** · March 29th, 2011, 16:55

hahahaha

You brought up the age thing..... snicker

**Ryan Ruck** · March 29th, 2011, 17:30

I had seen a documentary on the Cuban Missile Crisis a while back called "Defcon 2: Cuban Missile Crisis". Was pretty good. Looks like it has been uploaded to YouTube in 6 parts.

Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwz7YAQj-r0
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGA-iW0KsAg
Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyh3StmfhMw
Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTFSv_2GHoA
Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7Ou0yeBhAY
Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi5fjchszLM

**samizdat** · March 30th, 2011, 03:46

I did often daily daily "duck and cover" exercises, weekly "fallout" fire drills to prepare for evacuation, listened to lectures on the horrors of communism, torture methods, and that such. I didn't look forward to sleeping in the basement. I learned that radiation could last for a few days, weeks, months or forever.