1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:06,280 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the short Stuff. I'm Josh and 2 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:09,560 Speaker 1: there's Chuck in again. This is short stuff, and this 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: one is pretty cool because it's about uh secret bunker 4 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: hidden at a resort hotel. Not something you come upon 5 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:24,319 Speaker 1: every day. No, this is I've never even heard of 6 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:27,200 Speaker 1: this until the other day, actually, and I'm not even 7 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: sure how I heard about it now that I think 8 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:31,280 Speaker 1: about it, but it seemed like the perfect short stuff 9 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: because what we're talking about is during the Cold War, 10 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: the United States government saying, you know what, if the 11 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:43,199 Speaker 1: bomb happens, we need our government to function. And in 12 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: order for our government to function, we need are the 13 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: people of Congress to be safe and not fried from radiation. 14 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: And the only way to do that is to build 15 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: a massive underground bunker for everyone to go and live. 16 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: And that's just what they did. Yeah, but they didn't 17 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 1: they didn't like put it on a military base. They 18 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: didn't put it like underneath the Capitol building. They they 19 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: went to a resort in West Virginia called the Greenbrier 20 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: that had been around for a very long time already 21 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:14,400 Speaker 1: it was. It's a very well known resort. It's still 22 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:18,319 Speaker 1: around today. It's beautiful and in fact, um Dorothree Draper, 23 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: probably the greatest interior designer of all time. Um macked 24 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: out the Greenbrier I think in the thirdies or forties 25 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:28,679 Speaker 1: and brought it back to life. It's an amazing place. 26 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:32,760 Speaker 1: But they they chose the Greenbrier in part because no 27 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 1: one would ever suspect that they built the bunker to 28 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 1: house Congress during a nuclear attack four hours away from Washington, 29 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: d C. And West Virginia, beneath a resort that everybody loved. Right, 30 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: No one would think that would happen, except for the 31 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: people that built it. Because when the construction crews showed 32 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: up and they're like, all right, we're gonna need three 33 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: foot concrete walls here. Uh in these huge areas, we're 34 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: gonna need about eleven bunk beds. They went, Okay, what's 35 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 1: going on here? And they said, don't worry about it. 36 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:08,800 Speaker 1: Just build what we tell you to build, and and 37 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: stay quiet. Because obviously something like this had to be secret, 38 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: and it was secret for many decades until I don't 39 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: know was it a reporter or just a writer that 40 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 1: basically wrote an article about it. Reporter a guy named 41 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: Ted Gup who sounds like the kind of person who 42 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:29,239 Speaker 1: just out something for fun. It sounds like someone who 43 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 1: now they would use the word like he gut that 44 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:38,239 Speaker 1: thing up right, which he wasted billions of taxpayer dollars 45 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,919 Speaker 1: with one single article because it was then useless and 46 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: everyone said, well, thanks, gup. Now we don't have our 47 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: super secret bunker anymore. It's very much bombable because this thing, 48 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:55,679 Speaker 1: although it's built to withstand um to like be three 49 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:57,679 Speaker 1: you know, a few hours from Washington, d C. Where 50 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:00,520 Speaker 1: the big bomb lands. Uh it can it will stand 51 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: like a direct hit. And no one would have bombed 52 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:07,639 Speaker 1: White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia had it not been for you. Yeah. 53 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:12,359 Speaker 1: Within three years of tag Gupps article, the Ultimate Congressional Hideaway, 54 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:15,359 Speaker 1: the Greenbrier Resort was giving tours of it because it 55 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,960 Speaker 1: had been decommissioned that quickly. And again this thing was 56 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: in was in ready operation at a moment's notice for 57 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: thirty years. Over the course of those thirty yearsunk beds 58 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: were assigned to a person, and these were it wasn't 59 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: like they assigned it once. As new congress people came in, 60 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: they got assign bunk beds like if something happened, this 61 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: place was ready to go. At a moment's notice to 62 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 1: accept all of Congress, and I say, we take a 63 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: break and then we'll come back and talk about some 64 00:03:46,080 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: of the details behind this ingenious plan. Let's do it. So, Chuck, 65 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:17,160 Speaker 1: if you went to the Greenbrier between the I guess nine, 66 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: you might encounter somebody wearing a Forsyth Associates uniform and 67 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 1: they if you ask them, what what Foresight's Associates? Did, 68 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,279 Speaker 1: you say, Oh, well, we we actually take care of 69 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:34,160 Speaker 1: all the TV sets here at the Greenbrier. And then 70 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: the next thing you know, you would wake up in 71 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: the Cryptan Mexico wearing someone else's clothes and that would 72 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: be that. Yeah, And the last thought that you had 73 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:47,119 Speaker 1: in your head was, man, there's a lot of people 74 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:49,599 Speaker 1: taking care of these TV sets here, right, Because it 75 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 1: turns out that the Forsyth Associate TV technicians were actually 76 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:57,279 Speaker 1: the government employees who are secretly tasked with keeping the 77 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: Greenbrier Bunker at a state of operational readiness at all times. Yes, 78 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:05,920 Speaker 1: it was called when they built it, I saw fifty 79 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,200 Speaker 1: seven and fifty eight, so somewhere in there it was 80 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:13,479 Speaker 1: called Project Greek Island. And again was the location was 81 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:15,839 Speaker 1: determined because it's close enough to d C to where 82 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:17,600 Speaker 1: it's not super far if he had to like get 83 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,719 Speaker 1: there in a hurry. Um, but it's it's safe enough 84 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: to be there. Like, I think they could withstand radiation 85 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: for how many days? Could they survive on just the 86 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: air in their three But then the filtration system was 87 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 1: so amazing that it could actually filter out radiation, so 88 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: they were Okay, that's right. It cost about fourteen million bucks. 89 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: Was completed in sixty two, right before the Cuban missile crisis. Uh, 90 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: seven hundred and twenty ft underground, A hundred it's two levels, 91 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: a hundred and twelve thousand and change square feet, so 92 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: roughly the size of a couple of football fields stacked 93 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: on one another. Yeah, think about it's seven hundred and underground. 94 00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:00,760 Speaker 1: That is, that's a skyscraper down. And what's nuts to 95 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 1: me is it still couldn't withstand a direct hit from 96 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: a nuclear bomb. That really kind just says a lot 97 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:10,160 Speaker 1: right there. But um, so when you when you went 98 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:13,279 Speaker 1: to this place under a nuclear attack, Um, if you 99 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: were a member of Congress, you would be hustled off 100 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: to the Greenbrier. The first thing that would happen once 101 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,920 Speaker 1: you entered the secure sealed off area. UM. Is that 102 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,080 Speaker 1: you would be decontaminated, you'd be given new clothes, your 103 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: other close being sinerated. UM. And you would find very 104 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: quickly that entire swaths of the Greenbrier had also been 105 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: ingeniously included in this. Even though it was open to 106 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:38,479 Speaker 1: the public. They were used as as meeting rooms and 107 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: stuff during normal times. In the case of a nuclear emergency, 108 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: when Congress took over the bunker, they got sealed off 109 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:49,040 Speaker 1: with the rest of this bunker too. Yeah, so like 110 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: they were literal uh me, like companies would have a 111 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 1: not a retreat, well, I guess a retreat there. Uh. 112 00:06:57,440 --> 00:06:59,479 Speaker 1: And you know they would go and listen to people 113 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:02,800 Speaker 1: lecture out their industry and not, you know, unknowingly the 114 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 1: whole time they're sitting on top of this underground bunker. 115 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:08,599 Speaker 1: It's like it was pretty ingenious to not have it 116 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,320 Speaker 1: a military base and to sort of hide it in 117 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:15,160 Speaker 1: plain sight in some ways. Uh. There's if you're wondering, like, well, 118 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: how did you access it from the Greenbrier, it would 119 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:22,240 Speaker 1: of course be behind the door that says danger high voltage, 120 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 1: keep out danger, danger. It's all I got of an 121 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:31,040 Speaker 1: Austin Powers movie or something. It's like I just put 122 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:32,840 Speaker 1: high voltage and no one will open that door. Yeah, 123 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: I think it works. I mean you're kind of a 124 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: chump if you go through that door anyway, you know, Yeah, 125 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 1: you'd be a real gup. Nice call back, dude. So 126 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: we else is in there. You got your decontamination room, 127 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: you got your dormitories, which are eighteen rooms with sixty 128 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: beds in each. You gotta have a cafeteria in a kitchen. Uh. 129 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: They even had like media room set up with fake 130 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: views of like the capa all in the background and 131 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: stuff like that, so they could uh that had you know, 132 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 1: like a production facility essentially because they had to be 133 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: able to broadcast out in case anything went wrong. Yeah, 134 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 1: And they had three meeting rooms. One that could house 135 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: Senate the Senate, one that could house uh, the House 136 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: of Representatives, and one that could house joint um joint 137 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 1: congressional meetings like where everybody was involved. Um. They also 138 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 1: had a pharmacy with tons of antidepressants. Apparently had a 139 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: good stuff. They had a little jail, and then this 140 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: to me was pretty revealing. I think either MPR or 141 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: the Atomic Heritage Foundation pointed out that they had in 142 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:42,199 Speaker 1: this little jail area they had weapons, but that the 143 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: weapons amounted to like a couple of rifles, some pistols, uh, 144 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 1: like some batons, and like helmets, like stuff you would 145 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: have for riot here. And I realized, like, that's that 146 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:58,199 Speaker 1: wasn't meant to be used on you know, Soviet forces 147 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,320 Speaker 1: trying to gain entry. That to be used in case 148 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: of like some sort of crazy mutiny like below ground 149 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:10,880 Speaker 1: by by Congress people who are losing their marbles, just 150 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: old grudges, like they're finally they're finally going to take 151 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:17,679 Speaker 1: Belosi down once and for all, put her in a 152 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: straight jacket because there were straight jackets. Uh that there 153 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:25,120 Speaker 1: were two boxes of straight jackets with this jail, uh 154 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:28,719 Speaker 1: in case something happened like that. Yeah. So um, the 155 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:30,959 Speaker 1: whole thing was completed, I think you said, in time 156 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: for the Cuban missile crisis, right, Yeah, that's really really 157 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:37,960 Speaker 1: good timing. And again when they did this, they did 158 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: it under the auspices that the Greenbrier was building a 159 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: new wing. And indeed the Greenbrier did build a new wing, 160 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:45,080 Speaker 1: but there was some really weird parts of it, so 161 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: it did raise some, uh, some questions. But apparently the 162 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:52,080 Speaker 1: locals kept it to themselves because it does not seem 163 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:56,199 Speaker 1: to have been one of those you know, UM open secrets, 164 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: like it seems to have been like a real secret secret, 165 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 1: which is, you know, hats off to everybody who managed 166 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:04,120 Speaker 1: to keep that a secret all those years. Well, yeah, because, 167 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 1: like we said, the construction crews were immediately suspicious, but 168 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:10,040 Speaker 1: a lot of people worked on that thing and clearly 169 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:12,120 Speaker 1: knew what was going on. And I guess it was 170 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:15,560 Speaker 1: just a different time where people, uh cared this is 171 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:18,160 Speaker 1: about their country such that they knew it was important 172 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,600 Speaker 1: to keep it a secret for national security reasons. Yeah, 173 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:26,320 Speaker 1: hats off government on keeping some secrets. How fast would 174 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:30,960 Speaker 1: this be tweeted out today? It was a drywall person 175 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:36,240 Speaker 1: working on an underground bunker. Check it out. Supposedly, the 176 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,840 Speaker 1: UM Supreme Court was destined for the Grove Park in 177 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:42,600 Speaker 1: in the in the case of a nuclear emergency that 178 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:48,320 Speaker 1: would find of the Greenbrier. Yeah, where's that Asheville? Okay, 179 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:51,200 Speaker 1: really yeah, I'm pretty sure. Yeah, it's in Nashville, So 180 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:53,000 Speaker 1: they would do that's where they would go and bunk 181 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:58,439 Speaker 1: her down to Wow, pretty amazing stuff, Chuck. I wonder 182 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 1: if this, I mean, if there were eleven hun red beds. 183 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:04,320 Speaker 1: This seems to indicate that they would have their families there, right, 184 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:08,320 Speaker 1: I guess, but I guess, yeah, it must be. And 185 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:11,160 Speaker 1: I think there's a there's um a train route from 186 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:15,560 Speaker 1: d C to the Greenbrier, so they would probably be 187 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,559 Speaker 1: time to be like maybe at the Amtrak station, we 188 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:22,439 Speaker 1: gotta go right to your family. That's the only explanation 189 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 1: I can find all those staff. Maybe I could see 190 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:29,520 Speaker 1: Congress people choosing their staff over their family in a 191 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: nuclear a nuclear disaster. That's eleven d bucks though. That's 192 00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:36,880 Speaker 1: that's plenty of room for staff and families and maybe 193 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:40,320 Speaker 1: even an enemy or two. Sure again though, thanks to 194 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:43,679 Speaker 1: the Atomic Heritage Foundation, great article on this as well 195 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:46,680 Speaker 1: as NPR. We we we always love yes and great thanks 196 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 1: to you too, Chuck, and and you sir, thank you. Well, 197 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,080 Speaker 1: we thanked each other everybody. That means short stuff is out. 198 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,040 Speaker 1: Stuff you should know is a production of I Heart Radio. 199 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:02,080 Speaker 1: For more podcasts My heart Radio, visit the I Heart 200 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:05,040 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 201 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:12,160 Speaker 1: favorite shows. H m hm