TO LIVE TOMORROW

the President of the United States has said that the need for maintaining civil defense is one of the most serious problems confronting the nation today speaking on the importance of facing the facts with calmness and courage the president said the great chore you have here is to give people the facts show them what they can do get the federal leadership get the participation of the states and the municipalities without terrifying hi I have one great belief nobody in war or anywhere else ever made a good decision if he was frightened to death yeah you have to look packed in the face that you have to have the stamina to do it without just going I was tired dead and tired my mind sought rest anything with the subject of our all-day conference yet the question still obsessed me I long for sleep but I could still hear their voices are we going to educate those people out there Hammond how are we going to present to the American people the facts about possible panic and its prevention panic uncontrolled fear according to the dictionary unreasoning action caused by the shock of a strange and threatening experience but to millions of our citizens it could have a far more important meaning because if our country is ever attacked mass panic could complicate the problem of recovery fear the reaction of a child to a strange and threatening experience Oh each of these people had reacted in a different way to minor de-stresses petty annoyances but how would these same people react to a more shocking experience what would each do in that most important moment or to following catastrophe in my mind I recalled an incident that had recently taken place in my hand the children still driving but Mary reacted quickly automatic a laying the children's fears assigning duties providing leadership in a jiffy the fire was out but what if my wife had not provided that kind of family leadership panic might have resulted panic that can start with an individual and his fear striking out in all directions with lightning speed flaring into a great fire here we sit possibly a cross-section of the people of America but what would each of us do if disaster suddenly overtook us some among us would succumb to fear I recalled an incident one night at the movies ladies and gentlemen please give me your attention there is no need for alarm a small fire is broken out backstage and is being brought under control in the meantime please proceed to the exits now being opened by the ushers I repeat there is no need for alarm another example of how people will react when given leadership when information dispels the raw material of panic that boy and girl probably high school kids drilled and re drilled from the day they entered our schools in what to do in the event of fire I had read a report of a school incident because the resourcefulness was class the teacher had locked the exit usually used by the students immediately one of the boys took over instructed his fellow students to move at once to another exit here again was leadership putting into effect a sound plan today fatalities caused by school fires are a rarity because of simple well practiced plans these are examples of people young and old taking charge preventing panic I thought of Greek disasters of the past casually lists running into the thousands where panic could have increased the toll so easily here were to be found many examples of people reacting intelligently leadership springing up to take control people caring for the second injured proving once again that even untrained people will not panic if given information leadership a job to do yet the question was still in my mind how can we educate the people of the United States against the dread psychological weapon of mass panic against rumors that can spread like wildfire the type of psychological warfare that a potential enemy would use intruder radio broadcasts to disrupt civil defense to destroy faith in our leaders rumors about our strength to retaliate leaflets to advance civil strife in short anything to weaken our will to resist there will be no great reason for the existence of armies and of undermined our enemies sufficiently before hostilities begin so that the military organization they possess will be incapable of being used in the hour of need we can be prepared against such warfare good leadership sound planning prompt information can very well be the means of conditioning the behavior of our people even in an age of hydrogen weapons how would the people on this train react to an immediate danger using the train I can see it up head we'll all be killed somebody do something sorry I couldn't warn you folks we have to put this car on a siding for a bit automatic brakes will take hold in a minute you'll feel them just a dream but it gave me the clue to the answer to my question in time of national emergency we'll need many more conductors we can't depend on leaders springing up unexpectedly where will they come from will he be a leader would she panic people are unpredictable without information leadership and a job to do they may panic pandemonium chaos and there is my answer civil defense can make order out of chaos can prevent panic from starting by guiding the willing hands of survivors into organized activity developing skilled leadership telling the public what is happening I saw these people a cross-section of the people of America and I longed to cry out in the event of enemy attack or major disaster you can be the one to prevent a chain reaction that could lead to panic I felt the American people given the facts will understand the need and will act now to preserve our nation