1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:06,360 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:12,320 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:15,560 Speaker 1: show that believes there's no time like the present to 4 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 1: learn about the past. I'm Gabe Lusier, and today we're 5 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: talking about the time when the US government scared the 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,280 Speaker 1: pants off millions of its own citizens by simulating a 7 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:40,199 Speaker 1: nuclear attack in dozens of American cities. The day was 8 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:45,879 Speaker 1: June fourteenth, nineteen fifty four. The United States conducted the 9 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: first in a series of nationwide civil defense tests known 10 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: as Operation Alert. At ten am Eastern Time, air raid 11 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: sirens went off in more than fifty cities across the country, 12 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: prompting millions of people to head for cover. The emergency 13 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 1: drill lasted just fifteen minutes or so, but it became 14 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,680 Speaker 1: an annual event in the US until nineteen sixty two. 15 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:15,319 Speaker 1: The official purpose was to test American preparedness in the 16 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:19,039 Speaker 1: event of a Soviet nuclear attack, but as the years 17 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: went by, many Americans began to see the drills not 18 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:26,319 Speaker 1: as a life saving exercise but as a twisted form 19 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: of Cold war theater. In the early nineteen fifties, life 20 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:36,040 Speaker 1: in America was largely characterized by nuclear anxiety, the US 21 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: had just dropped two atomic bombs during the Second World War, 22 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: and in the wake of that devastation, many Americans feared 23 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 1: that the same weapons might be used against their cities, 24 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: and so as the Cold War dawned, the US Department 25 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: of Defense began producing a flood of educational material advising 26 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: citizens on how to respond to an atomic attack by 27 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: a form in government. Those instructions were aimed at both 28 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: children and adults, but they amounted to little more than 29 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:12,080 Speaker 1: duck and cover. The effectiveness of that strategy was questioned 30 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: even then, but for many, the illusion of safety was 31 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:20,239 Speaker 1: better than nothing. That said, as tensions with the Soviet 32 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: Union continued to grow, many Americans called for further guidance 33 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,640 Speaker 1: from the government on how to survive the seemingly inevitable 34 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:33,640 Speaker 1: nuclear attack. That widespread fear led the Federal Civil Defense 35 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: Administration to organize the nation's first civil defense tests, a 36 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: five day study which commenced on June fourteenth, nineteen fifty four. 37 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:48,320 Speaker 1: Dozens of major cities were contacted in advance about Operation Alert. 38 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:52,160 Speaker 1: They were instructed through memos to clear the streets as 39 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: soon as the emergency alarms were sounded, and to have 40 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: schools conduct duck and cover drills for the duration that 41 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: would give government a feace, officials and volunteers a chance 42 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 1: to practice what their duties would be in the event 43 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:08,080 Speaker 1: of a real life crisis. Officials were also told to 44 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: record local residents' response times to the fictitious attacks so 45 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: that the estimated casualties for each city could be calculated. 46 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 1: In a horrifying twist, a handful of cities were not 47 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,799 Speaker 1: given advanced notice of the drill, so when the sirens 48 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: went off, they had to respond as if the nation 49 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: really was under attack. In a clear sign of the times, 50 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: even New Yorkers took the drill seriously. From taxi drivers 51 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: and factory workers to bank clerks and secretaries, just about 52 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: everyone heeded the call to get to their nearest civil 53 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: defense shelter, whether it be in the basement of their 54 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: office building or in the closest subway tunnel. As a result, 55 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: Times Square was turned into a ghost town less than 56 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: two minutes after the take cover signal was given, an 57 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 1: eerie sight forever preserved by a newsreel shot that morning. 58 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: Private citizens weren't the only ones to participate in the drills. 59 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: Down in the nation's capital, President Eisenhower did his part 60 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: by boarding a helicopter on the White House lawn and 61 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: flying to an undisclosed location. Key military officials were airlifted 62 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: from the Pentagon as well, and about ten thousand government 63 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: employees were evacuated to emergency bunkers. The following day, newspapers 64 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: across the country ran fictional reports about the number of 65 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 1: bombs that had been dropped, the number of cities hit, 66 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: and the number of lives lost. Most accounts put a 67 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 1: positive spin on the proceedings, touting the calm and orderly 68 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: behavior of the participants and the high percentage of people 69 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:50,720 Speaker 1: who would have theoretically survived the attack. Those glowing assessments 70 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:53,480 Speaker 1: were as much for the sake of American pride as 71 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 1: they were for the eyes of the Soviet government, But 72 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,159 Speaker 1: the success of the drill was somewhat tarnished by the 73 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: still high body count. Calculated by civil defense officials, they 74 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,320 Speaker 1: estimated that at least two million people in New York 75 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:11,760 Speaker 1: would have died in a real attack, and nationwide, the 76 00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:16,360 Speaker 1: number of casualties would have exceeded twelve million. The message, 77 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:20,360 Speaker 1: whether intentional or not, was that preparedness can only take 78 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:24,160 Speaker 1: you so far, even in the best of circumstances, a 79 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: full scale nuclear assault would be catastrophic. That grim reality 80 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:33,719 Speaker 1: led many Americans to object to future civil defense drills. 81 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: They argued that taking shelter was a feudal act in 82 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: the face of an atomic bomb, and that the public 83 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 1: exercises were nothing more than hollow pageantry in a return 84 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: to form. New Yorkers were the most vocal critics. When 85 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: the government announced that Operation Alert would be repeated the 86 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:55,800 Speaker 1: following summer. Many in New York refused to participate, and 87 00:05:55,920 --> 00:06:00,280 Speaker 1: some organized protest events for the same day. The backlash 88 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: gained so much support that New York State actually passed 89 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: a law making it illegal to not seek shelter during 90 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: an Operation Alert exercise. Anyone caught shirking their civic duty 91 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: was subject to a fine of up to five hundred 92 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:19,279 Speaker 1: dollars and a year in jail. That was enough to 93 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: discourage most protesters, but not all of them. On June fifteenth, 94 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty five, when the air raid sirens sounded once again, 95 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 1: twenty seven activists in New York refused to take cover. Instead, 96 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:36,920 Speaker 1: they gathered at a park in Manhattan and handed out 97 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 1: pamphlets calling for the government to drop the pretense that 98 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:43,719 Speaker 1: citizens could be protected from a nuclear bomb simply by 99 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:47,920 Speaker 1: going indoors. We will not obey this order to pretend 100 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: to evacuate, to hide the pamphlet read in view of 101 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: the certain knowledge the administration of this country has that 102 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,480 Speaker 1: there is no defense in atomic warfare. We know this 103 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: drill to be a military act in a cold war, 104 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 1: to instill fear, to prepare the collective mind for war. 105 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: We refuse to cooperate. The protesters, including Catholic worker Dorothy Day, 106 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 1: were arrested and later given suspended sentences, but their campaign 107 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: sparked a series of similar protests in the years ahead, 108 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:25,680 Speaker 1: as more and more people lost faith in the government's 109 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: supposed survival plan. Shockingly, the deputy director of the Federal 110 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: Civil Defense Administration was eventually counted among the program's detractors. 111 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 1: He called Operation Alert quote not a drill but a show, 112 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: and was promptly fired as a result. Opposition to the 113 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 1: yearly drills came to a head in nineteen sixty one, 114 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 1: when thousands of Americans stage demonstrations in cities from coast 115 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: to coast, and for every citizen who actively protested Operation 116 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: Alert that year, there were un told others who simply 117 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 1: didn't take part in the event. In light of that 118 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 1: dwindling public support and the rise in anti war protests, 119 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:13,240 Speaker 1: the government officially canceled Operation Alert in nineteen sixty two. 120 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: The country's atomic anxiety had given way to a more 121 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:22,239 Speaker 1: idealistic outlook, the belief that peace is the only true 122 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: defense against nuclear war, and that there's no sense in 123 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: pretending otherwise. I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully you now know 124 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 125 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: You can learn even more about history by following us 126 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI HC Show, and 127 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,400 Speaker 1: if you have any feedback you'd like to share, feel 128 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:51,719 Speaker 1: free to send it my way by writing to This 129 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays and 130 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 1: Ben Hackett for producing the show, and thank you for listening. 131 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:02,880 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another Day 132 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: in History class.