When kids were scared but didn't know why

To those of you say 35 or younger this is nightmarish fear not understood until years later when you could comprehend what was happening.

I was 8 years old and with the rest of the class hearing sirens and told to get under our desks. One of those days this was happening.

[media=https://youtu.be/JyJ6K_n5bIM]

We were that close and didn't know it.
Nightmares were common for many of us just a few years later.
But this isn't what we knew then. We just knew the missles were there.
A couple years later we knew how close Kennedy was to the button but that sub? Not until this.

Top | New | Old

craig7 · 70-79, M

I learnt of the role of Vasily Arkipov several years ago.I was in high school at the time of the Missile Crisis,which we followed with great concern here in Australia.My father,who worked in the national security field back then, was deeply worried,as I think back to the time,but certainly kept it from us kids.

Lostpoet · M

That was a scary time and I'm glad nothing happened. But let's not forget that it did happen to a group of people and all those fears were realized.

Another thought, I don't know if it's worse for a kid thinking that any moment a big bomb might fall from the sky and kill them or kids now having to think whether another kid or grown up might show up with a gun.

FreddieUK · 70-79, M

I sometimes wonder if the kids (you and your contemporaries in the States) were more terrified of the possibilities than the two guys with their fingers metaphorically hovering over the buttons. I am in the same age bracket as you, but I think we were more sheltered from the potential 'Armageddon' by adults, even though the UK was nearer the Soviet Bloc.

View 6 more replies »

Gibbon · 70-79, M

@ArishMell My Uncle flew a B17 spotter camera plane during the Nagasaki drop. The crew wore lead lined flight jackets and were at a long distance but still got radiation burns in their armpits. After leaving the service he became quite the bowler as a past time and developed a great hatred for firearms and and every other weapon in existence. The reality of what he saw sunk deep in him. He told me he knew that was a fire cracker compared to what was coming.

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@Gibbon It must have been an awful thing to have on your mind even if you had been on active service throughout the War. I wonder if many of the others involved had similar reactions to your Uncle's.

Gibbon · 70-79, M

@ArishMell I think many involved in those operations had psychological issues as a result. I know there are many pilots who have had issues envisioning the hell they rained down on their targets unseen only imagined in their minds.

sunsporter1649 · 70-79, M

We were liuving quite near Homestead AFB, we sure knew what was going on, trainloads of military personnel and equipment heading south, fighters and bombers overhead constantly, exciting times for a 13 year old

Gibbon · 70-79, M

@sunsporter1649 so you had 5 years on me and a little better understanding. We have Andrews Airforce Base, Fort Meade, neighbor to NSA, the Naval Academy, and the biological nightmare Fort Meade a short drive from me. I have been aware of these since I was 9.

PhoenixPhail · M

@sunsporter1649 For me, the word was, "terrifying."
I'll never forget those times.

Gibbon · 70-79, M

@PhoenixPhail me also it was years before I got the everyday possiblity of nukes out of my head. And neighbors building shelters. For what? The theoretical nuclear winter could last longer than you could live in there.

Lostpoet · M

🙂It's nice knowing we watch the same YouTube channels. I like V-sauce.

Guardian

**WOWZA!**

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

Add a comment...