Retrospect - Shelter And Evacuation

a film excursion in the past events events which formed the patterns by which we live today retrospect is brought to you by the Office of Civil Defense mobilization in cooperation with your local civil defense office and your local station now here's your host Douglas Edwards there is always a certain amount of excitement when we revisit the past venturing back over the years there isn't a decade in modern times that had as wide a swing 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 have been a decade of wonderful nonsense it had also been a time of economic fantasy but America's debt to reality had become due 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 numbered 15 million there were bread lines soup kitchens and street corner apple cellars the rhythm of ragtime had become a funeral dirge the corpse of prosperity was abroad in the land in 1932 America sought new leadership is the panacea for all its troubles Franklin Roosevelt promised a new deal for the American people but depression and tragedy would divert all else for another eight years the thirties 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 a Lindbergh law and the Bank Act the days of the public enemy were numbered [Music] juhi long found a solution to the national problem every man a king said the king fish for every man a guaranteed annual income of $5,000 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 to ask 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 send his troops goose-stepping into the Rhineland Europe became a playground for dictators Spain in 1936 or the bloodiest civil war in modern history Germany and Italy fed planes and guns to the rebels while Russia supported the loyalists Spain became the battleground for conflicting ideologies lasted three years two million lives and it served 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 36 lives were lost the grim pattern of tragedy continued Amelia Earhart the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic embarked on around the world light never to return the beloved cowboy philosopher Will Rogers who never met a man he didn't like who 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 numerous died in a plane crash near Point Barrow Alaska in 1936 the abdication of Edward the eighth rocked the British Empire the woman I love became the most famous phrase predicted in America 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 Brownshirts swastikas and for one who voiced dissent a generous display of Nazi tactics 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 a pic in a poke the thirties ended with the ironic disembody phrase peace in our time ringing in the ears of nanka most of us really believed it meant peace in our time but belief is not as powerful a deterrent as preparedness peace in our time means preparedness 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 I want 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 warning mr. Donner yes that's right those 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 and certainly I support 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 bases rather than on our city sounds like evacuation would take a great deal of advanced planning it does so to all other aspects of civil offense mr. edges and we are planning this not only for the survival but for the recovery of our nation government alone could not do the job 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 M 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 2,500 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 OC DM 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 a responsibility a tremendous responsibility as a citizen but government has certain responsibilities to us now our government as you've 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 century 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 other [Music] madam Ernestine Schumann hike her ringing contralto tones brought the world of opera to her feet twenties was an era for innovation Americans were willing to try almost anything they even began to accept dancing as one of the fine arts they got a good look at the modern interpretive dancing of roots saint-denis they got a good look and they wondered [Music] the Russian composer conductor and pianist Rachmaninoff arrived in America for a concert tour Paderewski polish pianist and statesman as an artist he enjoyed more popularity than anyone since lists 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 Pagliacci 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 who wrote the children's classic the Bluebird Michael Arlen british-born novelist author of the best-selling the green hat [Music] Joseph Conrad the Polish foreign English novelist from whose pen came powerful and disturbing tales of the sea HG Wells who envisioned 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 but 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 defense warning signal sound depend 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 Douglas Edwards saying goodbye [Music] [Applause] retrospect starring Douglas Edwards was brought to you by the Office of civil and defense mobilization in cooperation with your local civil defense office and your local station survival in the nuclear age is a personal responsibility touching every American family make sure you take part learn the facts about civil defense preparing start your home prepared this program today the prepared family builds a prepared nation civil defense is an American tradition [Music] Oh