Some people who grow up in the 50s like to talk about how they lived through the specter of atomic war, going through “duck and cover” exercises in school. To which I reply, having grown up in the 70s and 80s, well, at least you had the comfort of believing you’d survive. My generation pretty much knew we’d be toast. Many people don’t know how close we came to destroying the world. This documentary, 1983: THE BRINK OF APOCALYPSE, describes a series of unconnected events that put the USSR’s leadership on edge in 1983. When NATO planned exercises that depicted an all-out war with the USSR, the Soviet Union prepared for a very real counterattack. Only the efforts of several double agents apparently avoided catastrophe. Part 1 is below; the other parts are on the YouTube site.
WHOA. I didn’t know that, and I was an adult with teen children in the 80s!
Yep, I grew up in the 50s. I don’t remember the duck and cover drills; my sister does, and we went to the same school, so I guess that I experienced them, too. I just blocked them out. However, I was never under the impression that we’d survive an atomic war. I remember my dad saying, “put your head between your knees and kiss your ass goodbye.” Dad didn’t curse (often), so that was a memorable statement.