MODERN MINUTE MEN

[Music] listen my children you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Rivier on the 18th of April in 75 hardly a man is now alive who remembers that famous day and year he said to his friend if the British march by land or Sea from the town tonight hang a lantern aoft in the belfrey arch of the North Church Tower as a signal light one if by land and two if I see and I on the opposite Shore will be [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] ready to ride and spread the alarm through every every middle sex Village and farm for the country folk to be up and to arm a bunk you know Helen I think it's time for somebody to go upstairs I still say bunk I'll take her all right come on oh come they sure grow a lot heavier in a year you should visit more often dad Sandra's going night and night nightone those lucky New York Yanks one stinking run in the night you little Sam 10 more minutes then I know night night that's right heck every time you come I have to be little Sam I'll pack tonight no gosh wish you could live here all the time and what you grow up to be big Sam and me little Sam oh no sir you can tell me stories yeah but the stories I tell are bunk oh no Gramps except Paul River and that Lantern stuff well you used to like it but I was pretty young then yeah that's right imagine Paul R trying to warn everyone in Ohio on a horse now the enemy had swoop in with super bombers 600 mil hour bombs away heck Paul River couldn't even get on his horse that [Music] fast well suppose Paul Rivier were Paul Ranken dad now what go back to your ball game PA we were talking about you not to you what about me we were supposing you were Paul Riv you could be Paul Riv you know and new model that is with a horse a pop you're not promising the at a horse in the city here not the kind you mean Paul here's your horse a Gramps one if by land and two if by Sea just dial and warn the countryside that's what I mean by a modern Paul R using today's war as an aircraft spotter among other civil defense duties GE like you told me about in World War II luck Pop I don't like to make you look silly but that's about as oldfashioned as Paul rever ever hear of r a d a r I've heard of it yes so is little Sam sure gives you a wonderful feeling of security to know that those big eyes are turning 24 hours a day guarding the whole United States and they're Man by the Army the Navy the Air Force coast guards Marines checking every plane every ship coming over to this country but our enemies know about that radar screen too they're working on ways to get over or under it and just in case they do get past the radar we've got trained civilian observers spotted all over this country on the alert night and day just to make sure that not one enemy plane might sneak in without being detected you went through all that bother during the war and nothing happened that's right we were lucky then it's been such a short time since World War II that many of us don't seem to realize how much scientific progress has been made even since then why now with these new planes the world has shrunk until the oceans are no bigger than Lake Erie what happened to the oceans Grandpa what Grandpa means sunny is it nowadays planes can fly here from anywhere in the world but there's no point in coming all that way just to bomb us have you forgotten what happened in England one minute a nice peaceful residential district and then death and destruction no doubt somebody said why why bomb here of all places they just made the wrong delivery huh Gramps That's My Boy yep when the enemy begins to study maps with a night of bombing targets he looks for those huge industrial plants shipping docks steel mills things like that but planes flying high and fast can easily miss their targets by several miles or maybe they can't can't find their targets and dump their bombs just anywhere this town my hometown even a small village like say BL Chapel near West Jefferson that's why the chief Observer briefs the spotters both men and women on what to do for instance let's say mother's at the pump when a group of planes go over she takes a good quick but careful look and then heads for that telephone when the operator gets that important aircraft Flash she knows where to direct the call in a short Moment The Observer is making her report exactly as outlined by civil defense to the filter seter now the girl at the filter Center identifies the flight on a card and indicates Direction with an arrow on a large plotting table Ohio has two big filter centers one at Columbus and another at Canton both take calls from specifically defined areas the filter Center is exactly what the name suggest tests a place to filter reports it screens relays only those which seem to mean b reports on the same flight that information is flashed to an air defense fighter intercepting station you understand of course those reports may be both aircraft spotter reports and radar reports now's where you get your action sunny Boy The Fighter Commander sends those fighter planes up ready to intercept that raid and Addy aircraft batteries are [Applause] alerted most radio and TV stations are ordered off the air briefly to keep the enemy from riding in on the beam a few will continue to broadcast instructions under a special Arrangement at this time ladies and gentlemen we are temporarily leaving the air in Conformity with the National Defense program keep your dials tuned where they are so that upon resumption of our service we may bring you the latest information please do not use your telephone during the emergency transports and private planes are grounded and the air defense control center immediately alerts the civil defense authorities in all the key points that are threatened now your modern Minute Men come into the picture civil defense volunt the air raid wardens and naturally the police the firemen rescue workers medical workers Public Utilities welfare workers industrial plants public Warning Systems were all warned just exactly like Paul River warned the countryside only much faster by telephone and radio of course yep the word is pass matter of seconds then if it becomes necessary the public warning signals are set off that means business everyone take cover and be quick about [Music] [Applause] it then if we are unlucky enough to be bombed the civil defense is ready to spring into action on plans already worked out every locality has a director of training and operations who takes over the rescue work using all Communications available working closely with him is a director of personnel who is prepared to evacuate bombed out areas and provide temporary housing a director of information is ready with maps and information on key installations such as public utilities railroad bus and truck transportation strategic Bridges underpasses every type of information needed in case of emergencies a director of supplies on hand to see that supplies and equipment get to the place where they'll do the most good and a director of Health to direct medical operations prevent epidemics and work closely with the Red Cross all of these local men have the full support of the Statewide civil defense which is prepared to throw its resources into those places where the going is roughest are you trying to say that today there's a choice between rough rougher and roughest in a bombing raid aren't you forgetting something forgetting what this well the big trouble today is that too many people are screaming about what can't be done instead of what can be done say sam set up the movie projector will you and get out those films of me in the last war okay Gramps now wait a minute pop you may have been great guns as an air raid warden in the last war but this is different yeah this is different sounds like the dying words of the first victim of that new fangled stuff called gun Potter he just wasn't prepared remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki the main reason they were so completely wiped out and so many died is because they were totally unprepared for anything like an Adam bomb [Music] attack most of our rules for surviving an atomic attack today come directly from lessons we learned from those first atomic explosions okay well suppose we set up a basement shelter and we get an atom bomb what good will the shelter do us depends on how far away we are from the bomb burst the atom bomb is a lot more powerful of course but those Blockbusters and fellow in Europe weren't very nice to be around either here's a booklet the government puts up survival under Atomic attack let's see what it says uh yes here it is if you're 2 mil away from the center of the blast you're 97% safe well that's a comfort but what if you're closer within a mile to a mile and a half your chances are 85% at half a mile to a mile it's 50/50 and what if you're under the thing it says here you're a gone goose in fact up to a half a mile the odds are only 10% in your favor but there's a lot of space in this country and your chances of being somewhere else are just as good as the next ones well as a matter of fact you take a chance every time you cross the street riding an automobile or even stepping a bathtub what about the radioactivity that stays around and poisons people it's a danger of course but not as much as you think if it's an air burst the danger is usually over in about a minute and a half and any solid object between you and the bomb is a protection blankets over the windows will help Shut It Out Clothing is a shield and even if you are exposed a good application of soap and water usually will wash the danger down the drain if the bomb burst is underground or underwater there is danger as long as the dust or mist is in the air rain after an air burst is also dangerous but what about Flash Burns it's just a question of keeping covered and keeping undercover and incidentally making yourself as small as possible all set Gramps come on Mom no I'll get the lights come on honey didn't he do a fine job setting that up Dad oh you bet he's done that before he knows how oh he's very good here's a nice soft seed for you oh thank you all set son get your head out of the way Mom okay here we go there you are grants looks like you were skinnier then well anyway a little they're skinny me teaching first aid but that's World War II stuff and it's just as important today more important in fact naturally there's more to teach today because Atomic attack will bring more casualties but still the idea is the same as when Florence Nightingale went out to help the wounded same applies to fire protection firefighting lessons today are absolutely vital when you think of the terrific heat flash of an atomic bomb and how many fires it starts even a long distance from the explosion remember the cluttered addicts and how we used to insist everyone clean them out in Atomic Warfare that'll be 10 times more important because the fire hazard is greater and it's still important to have good stoppers for tub and sink and extra containers for water to fight fires just in case the water supply might fail there's Jim and John klier when they were your age boy but just see how we prepared in those days Joe most of the time during a raids you'll probably be out acting as volunteer fireman or doing some other job so it'll be up to you Mrs klier and the boys to protect your home one of the worst dangers is fire from incendiary bombs and that's what this sterup pump is for now Jimmy your job is to handle the nozzle Mrs Collier you operate the pump John your job is the water supply it's up to you to keep this bucket Filled from those tubs now usually an incendiary bomb will fall through the roof of the building land on the attic floor instantly it starts to burn at very high temperatures if worst comes to worst and this does happen and the house is to be saved the family must do it immediately and be sure to remember when there's a fire in a closed room open the door carefully otherwise the flame May shoot out and burn [Music] you when you approach an incendiary bar be sure to keep down some of them contain Delayed Action explosives and if you're standing they may blow up in your face and above all use the spray on the bomb not the steady stream you can't put out the fire but the spray keeps the area around the burning bomb cool and prevents the fire from spreading it also speeds up the burning action so the bomb burns out in less than half the time it will take otherwise the steady stream is to put out fire started by the bomb but if you put the steady stream on the bomb itself you'll have an explosion spreading the fire all over the [Music] place as soon as the bomb has burned itself out you go after the flooring underneath with an axe [Music] the burning temperature is so high the wood may be charred and smoldering on the underside that's fine now of course that may never happen but if an incendiary bomb should fall into your house it's all yours either you know what to do and to have the necessary tools or you'll be looking for some other place to live say Gramps why' they put tape on the windows to keep them from shattering of course that won't hold with an atom bomb but heavy blankets do help plenty not only for protection against shattered glass but against radioactive dust and Mist fact of the matter a basement shelter is exactly what we're recommending in case of an atomic attack the best location is next to an outside wall make it just as comfortable as possible and a heavy solid table is still darn good protection against cave-ins food Gramps yep Adam bombs know a young Fell's stomach is bound to start screaming for some good solid nourishment hey Skipper mm naturally canned goods are best I'll turn it off well those are a few of the things we learned in the last war of course you can't learn everything at once there are a lot of things now that are new but not too new the blast and the heat from the atomic bomb are the greatest dangers to protect yourself against the blast keep covered get down low behind whatever protection is around and shield your face and neck with with your arms and hands like this and as for the heat again keep covered just as you do in the beach to keep from getting too sunburned same thing keep covered keep undercover that's about as simple a way of putting it as I know how like this Gramps not that well covered where did you get my old Air Warden coat the closet where I got the projector I found it in an old trunk but I've aired it out religiously spring and fall so it's still good just as good as those rules we practiced in the old war here let me try it on I don't know how this is going to go 10 lbs makes a lot of difference and you say everything fits just as well as in the last war just exactly and I'm serious the old procedures don't cover today's situation but the basic pattern does with certain alterations and enlargements just as this code needs I think you're right Dad I know I'm right times change but there's something about the American way that never changes it was writing with Paul Rivier in Revolutionary times and we see it now in our modern network of communications the nerves of today's warning system the modern Paul Riv yep defense is everybody's business and it's everybody's business to get into civil defense well that's just about what the governor said on television the other night let us understand that civil defense is more than a plan and an organization it is the recognition on the part of every citizen that in times of peace and in times of War whenever an emergency arises it becomes necessary to help ourselves and especially to help our neighbors the great destructive force of the atomic bomb will undoubtedly temporarily incapacitate a community those communities will need the help of their neighbors it is impossible to overemphasize the need of giving Aid to our neighbors in feeding and housing the homeless and in aiding the injured if atomic bombs fall upon America everybody everywhere in the untouched areas can look upon the homeless and the injured and say to himself there but for the grace of God go I the military forces are doing everything in their power to make preparation for the defense of our nation but no system of defense is infallible hence it is necessary that we civilians be prepared too if we are we will be able to dig ourselves out of the devastation we will be able to help our neighbors and we will be able to avoid the Panic that so frequently comes when disaster strikes civil defense let us understand is not a shortterm measure until peace again Reigns throughout the world the pattern of American Life must include the Readiness on the part of the Modern minut Men and that means you and me to face whatever comes and to face it squarely oh [Applause] [Music]