Retrospect : Shelter and Evacuation

suspect a film excursion in the past events events which form the patterns by which we live today retrospect is brought to you by the office of civil and defense mobilization in cooperation with your local civil defense offers time your local station now here's your host doesn't that work there is always a certain amount of excitement when we revisit the patch venturing back over the years there isn't a decade in modern times that had his widest wing as chaotic a transformation as the 1930s to paraphrase a well-worn thought it ran the gamut here in America we just come through the get-rich-quick years of going places and doing things the Jazz Age has been a decade of wonderful nonsense it had also been a time of economic fantasy but America's debt to reality had to come do the stock market crashed on black Tuesday October 29 1929 on the morning after the happiness years the nation woke up with a hangover and a broken heart the world's richest and supposedly soundest economy perished small business was strangled by the Great Depression the unemployed number 15 million there were bread lines soup kitchens and three-quarter Apple tiller the rhythm of ragtime had become the funeral dirge the courts of prosperity was abroad in the land in 1932 America sought new leadership is the panacea for all its trouble Franklin Roosevelt promised a new deal for the American people but depression and tragedy would divert all else for another eight year the 30s witnessed the crime of the century the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby for which the ruthless Bruno Hauptmann went to the electric chair Congress armed the FBI with the Lindbergh law and lavaca the days of the Public Enemy were numbered Huey Long found a solution to the national problem every man a king said the kingfish for every man a guaranteed annual income of five thousand dollars he called it share the wealth it was a good idea but unfortunately there wasn't any wealth to share America was not alone in despair Mussolini had invaded ethiopia in 1935 Haile Selassie appeared before the League of Nations who asked for justice God and history will remember your decision he said before God in history the likes of Hitler could rejoice over the League of Nations failure and use it as a mandate to break the Versailles Treaty and penned his troops goose stepping into the Rhineland Europe's became a playground for dictation [Music] Spain in 1936 saw the bloodiest civil war in modern history Germany and Italy fed planes and guns to the rebels while Russia supported the loyal Spain became the battleground for conflicting ideologies lasted 30 million lives and observed as a full dress rehearsal for World War two the 30s could also lay claim to the worst disaster in the history of aviation Lakehurst New Jersey as it approached its mooring mast the German dirigible Hindenburg suddenly burst into flames within minutes the huge aircraft was reduced to ashes thirty-six lives were lost [Music] the grim pattern of tragedy continue amelia earhart the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic embarked on around the world light never to return [Music] the beloved cowboy philosopher Will Rogers who never met a man he didn't like said to friends like vice president john nance garner politics has got so expensive but it takes lots of money to even get beat with Wiley Post the great humorist died in a plane crash near point barrow Holland 1936 the abdication of Edward the eighth rocked the British Empire the woman I love became the most famous phrase of the decade in America and while people claimed it could not happen here it was happening here the nazi german bund hired Madison Square Garden the rally was fraught with brown shirt swastikas and for one who voices and a generous display of Nazi tactics [Music] 1938 Neville Chamberlain waved a scrap of white paper containing the promises of a madman Hitler could afford an arrogant smirk he had sold the free world of take in a poke thirties ended with the ironic disembody phrase peace in our time ringing in the ears of Monica most of us really believed it meant peace in our time but police is not as powerful and a deterrent as preparedness peace in our time means preparing the nation prepared for nuclear war is the nation destined to survive when the warning signals sound what should we do should we take shelter or do we start leaving the city is it shelter or is it evacuation which will save the most lives that's the important thing to answer these questions we've asked mr. William Donner of the office of civil and defense mobilization to be our guest on today's program mr. Donner the civil defense advocates shelter or evacuation as the best means of survival our policy has always been shelter and or evacuation both of course are dependent on two factors warning time and local conditions that's why the decision can only be made at the local level and in some cases that decision cannot be made until the actual alert comes many of our cities have dual plans depending on local conditions once the speed of guided missiles make evacuation impossible not in most areas at least not in the foreseeable future great many missiles launched in complete secrecy is not now feasible also there's the possibility of a strategic warning is that advance warnings designer yes that's right suppose international tensions reach a point where the president declares a state of a national emergency this means that target cities could begin in a strategic evacuation all non-essential personnel could be moved out of the cities into safer areas of course this would only be done when the world situation demanded it here's another point to keep in mind the suburbs and rural areas would not need to evacuate only the downtown areas of most target cities would attempt evacuation but again and I cannot stress this too much it depends on local conditions and local officials must make the decisions obviously no one in Washington DC could begin to determine whether evacuation is best for Middletown USA just think of the number of unknown factors involved road conditions time of day warning time number of people to be evacuated number of routes leading out of the city and so forth still many people think evacuation of a large metropolitan city would be nearly impossible I look at it this way mr. Edwards you're caught with two hours warning you're in the center of the city with traffic control with planning with everyone moving out of the city in the same direction don't you think some people would get out certainly at school and the majority may get far enough to escape the heat and black bear in mind that for some time enemy missiles would be concentrated on our retaliatory basis rather than on their city sounds like evacuation would take a great deal of advance it does so there are other aspects of civil offense mr. Edmonds when we are planning this not only for the survival but for the recovery of our nation government alone could not do the job it sounds like a tremendous job but it can be done a great deal has already been done it will take the knowledge and resourcefulness of industry labor government and every individual in our country we at OCD em feel that the government should take the lead on the federal level we can plan advise draw up guidelines but the real action for the survivals of people must stem from local and state government much has been accomplished in this area all of our 50 States 240 target cities and more than 2500 communities have emergency plans ready to go into action continuity of government legislation has already been passed by many of our states this will ensure that the government will continue to operate in the event of a an attack by providing lines of succession to important positions of leadership we can survive a nuclear war we cannot survive by sitting back wishing that nuclear weapons did not exist or by hoping that no country would use them these weapons do exist they can be used and as long as we are faced with this threat we must be prepared on every front and in every home thank you very much mr. William Donner of OCD m for appearing on our program today and giving us some very very important information about the matter of survival each of us you know has the responsibility a tremendous responsibility as a citizen but government has certain responsibilities to us now our government as you heard is preparing for a possible national emergency what about you ever since our country became a major force in the science economy and culture of the world people have traveled to our shores from every corner of the globe for a first-hand look at democracy at work this has been especially true of the celebrated artists of all nations perhaps no decade of this tree attracted more of these great personalities than the 20s many Americans can recall the times they arrived on the scene the others can now recall it in retrospect from France came Sarah Bernhardt the greatest actress of her day known the world over for a lifetime of brilliant performances she was hailed everywhere as the divine Sarah in 1914 the French government crowned her magnificent career with a legion of honor madam Ernestine's human hike her ringing contralto tones brought the world of opera to her feet twenties was a nearer for innovation Americans were willing to try almost anything they even began to accept dancing as one of a fine art they got a good look at the modern interpretive dancing of brutes saint-denis they got a good look and they wonder the Russian composer conductor and pianist Rachmaninoff arrived in America for a concert tour clatter esky polish pianist and statesmen as an artist he enjoyed more popularity than anyone since list John McCormick the great Irish tenor who gained his greatest fame through the phonograph record Enrico Caruso the most brilliant operatic tenor of the age no one before or since has been able to match the excitement of his pal yakky from the world of literature came the Irish playwright and wit George Bernard Shaw you in America said Shaw should trust to that volcanic political instinct which I have divined in you the creator of Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle who came to the United States to lecture on his belief in ghosts the Belgian playwright and Nobel Prize winner Maurice Maeterlinck both the children's classic the Bluebird Michael Arlen british-born novelist author of the best-selling the green hat Joseph Conrad the polish-born English novelist from whose pen came powerful and disturbing tales of the sea hg wells to envision the Space Age in War of the Worlds and the shape of things to come of all these visitors hg wells alone would experience no sense of wonder at our atomic age an age which he predicted as early as 1914 though so much for the past now we take a moment to present an important reminder concerning the future the actions you take should the Civil Defence warning signal sound depends on the plans in your community learn what you can do to protect your home and family in case of nuclear attack call your local civil defense office or write to office of civil and defense mobilization battle creek michigan that's it for now be with us when we again look at people places and events in retrospect this is Debra said we're saying goodbye retrospect starring Douglas Edwards was brought to you by the Office of Civil on defense mobilization in cooperation with your local civil defense office and your local station survival in the nuclear age is a personal responsible of touching every American family make sure you take part learn the facts about civil defense preparing start your home preparedness program today the prepared family builds a prepared nation civil defense is an American tradition [Music] Oh [Music] No