Today is the 29th anniversary of Three Mile Island. It made me aware that I have grown up in a nuclear world with all the possibilities, good and bad, that come with the atomic age.We were growing up in a world of endless nuclear power! We were also growing up in the shadow of total annihilation at any moment.
My first encounter with the possibility of a horrific death by nuclear holocaust came in the form of a movie shown to us in school called "Duck and Cover". We were shown the movie and then our teachers told us the proper way to cower beneath our desks in the event of a nuclear attack.
The absurd silliness of this preventative plan was lost on kids who were scared witless by the bomb shelters that were being built in neighborhood backyards, by the "cold war", by the nameless and faceless threat of "red commies" and by the thought of missiles humming in subterranean bays just itching to fly out and blast our little lives to bits.
We were children of the Atomic Age, we were very alert and we knew just what to do - Duck and Cover! Oh, My God. We actually believed this tripe - watch the Civil Defense movie in it's entirety below:
