I just watched one of the most chilling documentaries ever

[alleyallen]

The whole Soviet threat was a real fear for me during those days. I was 10 when Reagan was sworn in the first time, and there were definitely times -- most notably following the Korean Airline crisis/fiasco -- when I believed we definitely would be nuked.

Then Red Dawn and a couple of other movies showed the other chilling possibility: A non-nuke Soviet takeover of the U.S. Unrealistic, probably, but as a young teen, I thought it seemed real.

For historical references, check out: Countdown to Looking Glass and also one called, I think, "The Children's Story." Also, the movie Fail Safe comes highly recommended by my dad, Rallen13.

 

[Bad Guy Zero]

I was but a young'n in 1983, but I remember the school sending a note home with my older brother advising parents that the film (The Day After) was too intense for children. I was terrified of nuclear war as a kid, that crap consistently gave me nightmares when I got a little older.

I didn't even watch The Day After until about 10 years ago when I was in college, and I only watched it once. It freaked me out ... the scene in Allen Fieldhouse filled with refugees/victims, the girl deathly ill with radiation poisoning, talking about how the phone lines should be restored in a few days. Jason Robards returning to KC, knowing his fate. Man, I can only imagine the impact that movie had on people in 1983.

The threat of nuclear annihilation was real, and it permeated the psyche of many, many people. I'm reminded of the scene in Terminator 2, when the nuke is detonated, with the girl on the swing in the park and everything being vaporized. While T2 is far from the greatest film ever made, that is a powerful scene and image.

Consider yourself lucky. Our school made us watch it ... I was in Grade 7. Scared the living shirt out of me. Didn't sleep for days.

Ditto for Testament.

Of course all that pretty much pales in comparison to my mom taking me to see The Hiding Place when I was four. What kind of parent takes there kid to see a movie about the Holocaust? A parent whose idea of bathtime fun is playing "Catch the Toaster."

 

[Armchair_QB]

That description makes me want to see the Scare. I was only a few months old then, so I "missed" damn near all of the tension, so to speak. I had no idea we were that close to exchanging bombs with the Soviet Union. I knew the tensions were high, but wow.

Thank you, sir.

Mike ... none of us had any idea we were that close.

We all had the fear in the back of our minds, getting nuked is probably the central tenet of our collective psyche to this day, which is one reason the lesser lights of our nation are continually on the lookout for real or imagined bogeymen, but it still freaked me out to hear I was that close to getting vaporized 24 years after the fact.

I lived in Milwaukee in '83 and I stood no chance. I remember the Milwaukee Journal did a story in that period about what would happen if Milwaukee got hit by a nuke. I lived just north of County Stadium and I was in the Probable Vaporization-to-Burning To Death zone if the nuke was dropped downtown. I remember when that came out, my buddies and I hoped to God we just got vaporized.

That's what it was like if you were younger. The early 80s were not unlike the early 50s in that regard.

I had just started my senior year of HS in the fall of 1983. I have to say I don't remember much talk of those specific near misses when they happened but I do remember the Soviets blowing that Korean airliner out of the sky, Grenada, etc.

The paper in my hometown did a similar story to the one you're talking about too, except it outlined the area of destruction in every big "city" in our state.

Supposedly the Soviets had enough missiles to target every city in the U.S. over a certain population. Since I lived in the state capitol we had a nice fat bulls-eye on us.

I do remember it as being a scary time. Not in an everyday kind of way but it was something that was always in the back of your mind. Movies like Red Dawn didn't help of course.

 

[Flash]

I was but a young'n in 1983, but I remember the school sending a note home with my older brother advising parents that the film (The Day After) was too intense for children. I was terrified of nuclear war as a kid, that crap consistently gave me nightmares when I got a little older.

I didn't even watch The Day After until about 10 years ago when I was in college, and I only watched it once. It freaked me out ... the scene in Allen Fieldhouse filled with refugees/victims, the girl deathly ill with radiation poisoning, talking about how the phone lines should be restored in a few days. Jason Robards returning to KC, knowing his fate. Man, I can only imagine the impact that movie had on people in 1983.

The threat of nuclear annihilation was real, and it permeated the psyche of many, many people. I'm reminded of the scene in Terminator 2, when the nuke is detonated, with the girl on the swing in the park and everything being vaporized. While T2 is far from the greatest film ever made, that is a powerful scene and image.

Consider yourself lucky. Our school made us watch it ... I was in Grade 7. Scared the living shirt out of me. Didn't sleep for days.

Ditto for Testament.

Of course all that pretty much pales in comparison to my mom taking me to see The Hiding Place when I was four. What kind of parent takes there kid to see a movie about the Holocaust? A parent whose idea of bathtime fun is playing "Catch the Toaster."

Don't go angling for Batshirt Crazy Mother of the Year Award. 21 has that wrapped up. First runner-up, hockeybeat, and third, another fake name.

You're just one in a long list of.

 

[alleyallen]

I was but a young'n in 1983, but I remember the school sending a note home with my older brother advising parents that the film (The Day After) was too intense for children. I was terrified of nuclear war as a kid, that crap consistently gave me nightmares when I got a little older.

I didn't even watch The Day After until about 10 years ago when I was in college, and I only watched it once. It freaked me out ... the scene in Allen Fieldhouse filled with refugees/victims, the girl deathly ill with radiation poisoning, talking about how the phone lines should be restored in a few days. Jason Robards returning to KC, knowing his fate. Man, I can only imagine the impact that movie had on people in 1983.

The threat of nuclear annihilation was real, and it permeated the psyche of many, many people. I'm reminded of the scene in Terminator 2, when the nuke is detonated, with the girl on the swing in the park and everything being vaporized. While T2 is far from the greatest film ever made, that is a powerful scene and image.

Consider yourself lucky. Our school made us watch it ... I was in Grade 7. Scared the living shirt out of me. Didn't sleep for days.

Ditto for Testament.

Of course all that pretty much pales in comparison to my mom taking me to see The Hiding Place when I was four. What kind of parent takes there kid to see a movie about the Holocaust? A parent whose idea of bathtime fun is playing "Catch the Toaster."

My dad was showing me all kinds of movies in this ilk...Holocaust, Memory of the Camps, War and Remembrance, etc. Disturbing to see those at a young age, but it definitely made an imprint (in a good, don't ever forget history way).

 

[Bubbler]

Well, boys and girls, I'm not dismissing how Bubbs or any of you young folks feel, but having lived through the Cuban missile crisis, none of this would scare me much.

According to the intel folks who went through both, the '83 situation was far more dangerous than the Cuban Missile Crisis. The obvious difference was that the Missile Crisis was played out in public, whereas the '83 incident was not.

 

[Buck]

I was reading Bubbs' post, but then something shiny caught my attention.
Sorry.

That's gold right there.

 

[HejiraHenry]

Soviet mistrust of the U.S. -- helped in a massively large part by Ronald Reagan's warmongering of his first term

I was hardly a Reagan apologist during his two terms, but I'm pretty sure I slept through Reagan's warmongering. For all I know, he did too.

Reagan struck a hard line – quite a contrast to Mister Peanut – and was prepared to move ahead with a defense system that the Soviets knew they couldn't afford to compete against.

I'm trying to remember, though, which countries the U.S. invaded in Reagan's first term.

Perhaps somebody can remind me.

 

[Buck]

Soviet mistrust of the U.S. -- helped in a massively large part by Ronald Reagan's warmongering of his first term

I was hardly a Reagan apologist during his two terms, but I'm pretty sure I slept through Reagan's warmongering. For all I know, he did too.

Reagan struck a hard line – quite a contrast to Mister Peanut – and was prepared to move ahead with a defense system that the Soviets knew they couldn't afford to compete against.

I'm trying to remember, though, which countries the U.S. invaded in Reagan's first term.

Perhaps somebody can remind me.

Grenada

 

[doubledown68]

Thanks for this Bubbs. I will be looking to catch this. I enjoyed the long post.

You mention secret agents. Did these guys factor in to the story?

Maybe your deck's not so dumb.

Eh.. it got me through college.

 

[alleyallen]

Soviet mistrust of the U.S. -- helped in a massively large part by Ronald Reagan's warmongering of his first term

I was hardly a Reagan apologist during his two terms, but I'm pretty sure I slept through Reagan's warmongering. For all I know, he did too.

Reagan struck a hard line – quite a contrast to Mister Peanut – and was prepared to move ahead with a defense system that the Soviets knew they couldn't afford to compete against.

I'm trying to remember, though, which countries the U.S. invaded in Reagan's first term.

Perhaps somebody can remind me.

HH, beyond the Grenada issue, did we actually invade anyone? No. But was Reagan rattling the sabers way beyond what needed doing during his first term? Uh, yeah. If you don't remember that, then you truly were asleep.

 

[DanOregon]

Conservatives would call what Reagan did asserting strong leadership. It's apparently a big GOP thing to focus attention on those they deem "evil." The Bushes did it as well. Focus on an antagonist and use that to develop a "storyline" for an administration. Clearly, the USSR was a competitor for world power, but with their economy falling apart I do think Reagan helped give the Russkies a nudge that both riled them up and quickened their demise.
As a kid growing up post Vietnam it did freak me out to see the number of US servicemen killed go up during Reagan's term, and I don't think any Russians were involved.