Nuclear Drills
Duck and cover — growing up under the threat of nuclear war
Daily Magic: 28 July 2024
Duck and Cover
By Bruce White
I was 9 years old in October of 1962 when President Kennedy appeared on TV to tell the nation that Soviet nuclear missiles had been found on Cuba and that they could reach East Coast cities like Philadelphia where I lived. We had been living under the threat of nuclear attack by the Soviet Union as long as I could remember, but this development added a new sense of urgency in my 9 year old mind.
I remember jumping on the ground at age 5 to take cover with my friends when we heard an air raid siren. Then it had been a game not to be taken seriously. The Cuban missile crisis made this game a much more frightening reality.
I read the news avidly for the latest developments and examined the surveillance photos showing the location of Russian missile launchers on Cuban soil.
I had seen President Kennedy in a motorcade in Philadelphia during the presidential campaign of 1960. Even at age 7, there was something about this man that touched me. Now it was up to him to save me, my family, my neighborhood and the entire world from nuclear annihilation. Something inside told me to trust in his…
