The Atomic Cafe (1982) - full transcript

The Trinity test had been
executed in New Mexico.

The people from Trinity had
arrived in the Marianas

and they had with them at that particular time,
color photographs of the Trinity explosion,

so we got the gang together

and we show them. We didn't
use the words "atomic bomb",

we did not use that, but we said:
Okay now, this is the bomb,

this is what will happen when
we make our flight tomorrow

and release it, this is what we're gonna see.

So, uh... with this, uh...
preliminary indoctrination

we got into the airplane and took off.

Once through we're ... in the air, uh...



I then left the pilot seat of the airplane
and I crawled back into the back,

where the enlisted men were.

I got them all together back, then we pour
some coffee out of the thermos jug

and I told them actually what
we... what we were doing,

what we are carrying at that time, and
the weather being clear at our primary,

which was Hiroshima, there
was no... no decision left,

I mean, we were on the way to the primary,

so that part of it was perfectly routine, as
we came in, uh... from our initial point

to the bomb release point,
uh... it was... again routine.

There we were bothered... not in the least
by any kind of either opposition... no flag.

We didn't see anything that causes any...
any concerns, so we're able to concentrate

strictly on the bombing problem.

The... bomb was released.

We executed a turn around
as we had been directed.



The bomb blast hits us.

It hits us in... two different shockwaves,
first being the stronger.

This... essay was a... perfectly... unexciting
and routine thing up until the point

of taking a look at the damage
we had been done,

that was kinda a... little bit hard to
realize, it was kinda inconceivable

as to what we were looking at there.

We pass comments back and
forth in the airplane,

we took pictures and... by
the time we had done that

I became concerned that we
better quit be in sight seers

and get out of there. And...

we were gone and off to the coast...

in a matter of about 20 minutes from
the time that the bomb was released.

We have spent more than two billion dollars
on the greatest scientific gamble in history,

and we have won.

The Navy Department says that it's too early
yet to tell what effect the atomic bomb

will have on Japanese morale and that
we may have to destroy 4 or 5 cities

before they actually believe
we have such a bomb.

Having found the atomic bomb, we have used it.

We shall continue to use it

until we completely destroy
Japan's power to make war.

Only a japanese surrender will stop us.

It is an awful responsibility
which has come to us.

We thank God that it has come to us

instead of to our enemies,

and we pray that He may guide us

to use it in His ways and for His purposes.

Captain Beahan, what was your
most outstanding experience

on this historic flight?

I suppose it was when the clouds don't
pull out over the target, at Nagasaki,

so it was pretty as a picture.

I made the run, let the bomb go.

That was my greatest thrill.

# There was no atheists in the hole #

# and men that had never prayed at all #

# at the time they watched at the heaven #

# and beg the Lord that ended up the war #

# They told Him of their
mothers on the homeland #

# They told Him that they wanted to be there #

# I believe the bomb that stroke Hiroshima #

# was the answer to our boys' prayers. #

Hey, did you see that city where the
first atomic bomb was dropped?

Yes, Fred. We flew over Hiroshima
for about half an hour.

- It was a shamble down.
- A shamble?

It looked like Evans field after a
doubleheader with the Giants.

The... group had been told to select some
targets in Japan that had not been bombed.

In other words, they wanted virgin targets,

and the reason behind it, even though
not given to the group at that time,

the reason behind it was that they wanted
to be able to make bomb blast studies,

or bomb damage studies on virgin
targets once the bombs were used.

There are definitely military targets,
there was no question about that,

and they offered such a, uh...

Well, you can almost say
a... classroom experiment,

as far as being able to determine
later the bomb damage.

I have... been subjected
many times to... criticism,

I have been accused of being...
insane, being a drunkard, uh...

being everything that... you
can imagine a derelict to be,

as a result of a guilty conscience
for doing this, and...

as I said... no one's ever comes
to my defense in that regard.

I look at it this way: that my part in this thing
may well have been something that later or now

the U. S. government might be looking
at someone with a guilt complex,

and... their feeling could be
that the less said about it

by the United States government the better.

June 30 1946, almost time.

Another five seconds...

two...

17.30.

A spewing column of smoke
9 miles high in the sky,

blinding light stronger than the Sun.

Bikini Atholon, present site
of Operation Crossroads,

and the fourth atom bomb explosion.

Bikini Atholon, where 200 warships will
be anchored, 140 planes, 200 goats,

200 pigs, 4,000 rats.

How will this fourth bomb affect you?

What do you know of this atom bomb?

The bomb will not start a chain
reaction in the water,

converting it all the gas,

letting all the ships on all the oceans
drop down to the bottom.

It will not blow out the bottom of the sea
and let all the water run down the hole.

It will not destroy gravity.

I am NOT an atomic playboy,

as one of my critics labeled me, exploding
these bombs to satisfy my personal whim.

The natives expressed to the people
of the United States their welcome,

despite the fact that the Atholon of Bikini
may be utterly destroyed on July 1.

But the natives, in their simplicity and
their pleasantness and their courtesy,

they're more than willing to cooperate,

although they don't understand the world
of nuclear energy anymore than we do,

and all they have no way of understanding
what the test is all about.

Scene 26, take 2.

Well, James, tell them that the commodore
will explain the atomic bomb.

All right. Now, James, will you tell them
that the United States government

now wants to turn this great destructive
force into something good for mankind,

and that this experiments here at Bikini
are the first step in that direction.

Now, they have heard of our
plan for their evacuation.

Will you ask King Judah to get up and
tell us now what his people think,

and if they're willing to go.

Yes, very good, they are willing to
go and everything is in God hands.

Well, you tell them and King Judah
that everything being in God's hands,

it cannot be other than good.

American officials discuss plans with the Bikini
natives for the evacuation of the Atholon.

The natives are nomadic groups,

and are well pleased that the yanks are
going to add a little variety to their lives,

and here, by the way, you hear them singing a
Marshallese version of "You are my sunshine".

They are in time. And I just have been
in the... The boys in the control seat...

The pilot have it under his control. No one can
stop it, the atomic bomb is about to drop.

- 20 seconds.
- We do not how it sound...

but 42,000 men are here watching.

- All the observers...
- ten seconds!

All the observer ships in position in the
open sea, were about 10 miles away.

Four... three... two... one...

In the background was the growing
struggle between two great powers

to shape the post-war world:

Soviet Russia was expansively
stabbing westward,

knifening the nations left empty by war.

For orders from the Kremlin,

Russia had launched one
of history's most drastic

political, moral and economic
wars: a cold war.

The United States was obliged to help Europe
safeguard its traditional freedoms

and the independence of its nations.

Gone was the spirit of wartime unity that
reached its peak on that historic afternoon

in April 45 at the Elbe River in Germany.

Here two worlds actually met, but this
coalition was to be torn asunder.

Already an Iron Curtain had dropped around
Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria.

"Uh, but this is Europe", you say.

But let's see what can happen elsewhere,
in the small town of Mosinee, Wisconsin.

Peaceful, isn't it?

But the red punching falls and the
chief of police is hauled off to jail.

Next, public utilities are
seized by fifth columnists.

Watch carefully what happens to an editor
who operates under a free press.

He goes to jail too and his newspaper
is confiscated. Exit freedom of thought.

Yes, this is life under the Soviet
form of government.

The little town of Mosinee
made this experiment for

24 hours of public service to all America.

It can't happen here?

Well, this is what it looks like if it should.

Fortunately we can move the clock back.

The time is not yet.

Let us pray that it never
happens in our country.

Before we meet the members of
the American Legion Post 279,

who helped make this picture possible,

I just like to say that gives me
a great deal of satisfaction

to present two outstanding
shopping centers in California,

Shopping Hub of the San Gabriel
Valley in West Arcadia

and the Whittier Quad Shopping
Center in Whittier, California,

because... they are concrete expressions of
the practical idealism that built America.

When you visit these two fine shopping centers,

you will find more than four score beautiful
stores, the sparkling assortments,

an attractive atmosphere, and of course

plenty of free parking for all the cars
that we, capitalists, seem to acquire.

Who can help but contrast the beauty of the
practical settings of the Arcadia Shopping Hub

or the Whittier Quad with what
you'd find under communism.

It's not sane to hope for the best
without preparing for the worst.

Our object is not aggression.

We need not become militaristic,

but we must keep our army, our
navy, our air force at ready steam.

We must back up our team for security.

Well, I guess there's nothing
for us to worry about.

We're the ones that have the bomb.

The atom bomb explodes again
in the headlines of the world.

In Washington, the chairman

of the Joint Congressional Committee on
Atomic Energy, senator Brian McMahon,

gives his reaction to the Russia's
possession of the bomb.

This is no time for hysteria,

this is no time for panic,

this is a time for a calm reflection on
the political and military implications

of this transcendent event.

# Everybody is worried #

# about the atomic bomb #

# but nobody's worried #

# about the day my Lord will come #

# when He hit, the Lord Almighty,
like an atom bomb #

# when He comes, when He comes #

Well, this suit is made of this material.

Inside this layer is a... shredded led...

that resists against atomic rays.

Okay, Richard, go with this antirray jumper.

# Everybody is worried #

# about the atomic bomb #

# but nobody's worried #

# about the day my Lord will come #

One immediate effect of the announce
of the Russian atom blast

is the tight of security regulations
of all atom installations.

At Hanford, Washington,
where 200 million dollars

have being spent in the ever expanding
atomic government empire,

the door is being locked, but tight.

The guards are get on their toes
by constant targets practices,

and they have orders to shoot
to kill at any suspicious thing.

A highly trained, well equipped
North Korean army

swarmed across the 38th paralell to attack
unprepared South Korean defenders.

Caught off guard they were all overwhelmed,

until the United Nations took
its historic vote to intervine.

The end of the war seemed in sight

as the Allies pushed north towards the
North Korean capital of Pyongyang.

Then it happened.

The Chinese Red Army starts bring

hundreds of thousands,
swarmed over the frontier

against thinly held United Nations positions.

Confronted by overwhelming numbers, UN
army were forced to an inevitable retreat,

while men wondered whether Red
China detach off World War Three.

Will the atom bomb be the answer
to the Chinese hordes?

President Truman said that
it was under consideration.

If the United Nations jilts to the forces of
agression, no nation will be safe or secure.

If the agression is successful in
Korea we can expect it to spread

throughout Asia and Europe
and to this hemisphere.

We are fighting in Korea for our own
national security and survival.

It's time for the Longines Chronicle.

Our distinguished guest for this evening
is the honorable James E. Van Zandt,

United States congressman from Pennsylvania.

It's my opinion that... we should fight the war
to win... in Korea, rather than try to settle

at the diplomatic table, which is impossible
when you're dealing with Russia.

Would you extend your will to win so far

as to include the atomic bomb?

Very definitely, Dr. Peterson.

I've always been a firm believer that
we should use the atomic bomb

not only on Korea, but north of
the yellow river in Manchuria.

Does that mean that you believe that it
could be effectively used as a weapon

in the Korean theater?

Yes, I think that... there are
several targets... uh...

in Northern Korea... we could use, that we
could destroy with the atomic bomb,

we could strong contaminate them.

And then, of course, there are targets in
Manchuria that should be destroyed.

This is the destructive power we pray
God we will never be called upon

to hurt at any nation, but should
if become necessary.

That it's not hesitate, because
it is foreign to our nature

to use the power which has been given us.

I propose the president of the United States

invite at the commander of
the north korean troops

to withdraw his forces beyond the 38th parallel
within one week, or use that week

to evacuate civilians from a specified
list of North Korean cities

that will be subjected to atomic attack
by the United States air force.

# There will soon be uneven
to this cold an wicked war #

# when those hard headed comunists
had got what they're looking for #

# Only one thing that will stop
then, and their outrageous fun, #

# if General MacArthur drops the atomic bomb. #

# There'll be fire clouds and
metal flying all around #

# and radioactivity will burn until the ground #

# If there's any commies left in
all will burn until the ground #

# if General MacArthur drops the atomic bomb. #

I ask you, the American citizen,

to let your Congressman know how
you feel about this proposal.

Well, I really don't know... what to do.

But do you feel the Korean situation
affects us more than anything else?

Yes, I feel that we should get out our boys
home, they've been over there long enough

and it doesn't seem to be
any end to this situation.

Hear what my mom said about
how bad things are back home.

"Everybody's hoarding.

"Properties are getting fat contracts.

"Neighbors say that politicians are using
the war to their own advantage.

All our chief atomic scientists are spies."

And a lot more.

I just take it with a grain of salt.

Let me tell you how the commies
plant propaganda back home.

Sometime ago Mack, Johnny and I managed
to get our last leave together in a big city.

We must get rid from that atom bomb!

These poor boys will shed their innocent blood

- in a war that this country is provoking!
- Get a load of us.

Asiatic people all want the peaceful
establishment of native regimes

without the interference of
the United States troops.

Communist don't want war.

War would be world suicide.

Only communist countries
can guarantee you peace!

Why don't you go live in a
communist country then?

You're going to talk on a street corner there?

You look pretty well, sister, to be tearing down
the country that gives you freedom of speech.

# We're living in the country that's
the finest place on Earth, #

# but some folks don't appreciate
this land that gave them birth #

# I hear that up in Washington
they're having an awful fuss #

# 'cause communist spies are
making monkeys out of us. #

The question is: have you ever been
a member of the Communist Party?

You refuse to answer that
question, is that correct?

I have told you that I will always... my beliefs,

my affiliations and anything
else to the American public,

and they will know where I stand,
as they do from all my writings.

- Stay away from the stand!
- I wrote of Americanism for many years, and I...

- Stay away from the stand!
- ...for the Bill of Rights you are destroying.

Stay away from the stand!

# The bureaus and departments
have been busy night and day #

# They're figuring out just how
we gave our secrets all away #

# and Congress has appointed
a committee, so they said, #

# to find out who's American
and who's a low down red #

I'm holding in my hand a microfilm,

a very highly confidential secret
State Department documents.

These documents were fed out of the
State Department over ten years ago,

by communists who were employees

of that Department, and who were interested
in seeing that these documents were sent

to the Soviet Union, when the interests
of the Soviet Union happened to be in

conflict with those of the United States.

# I'm no communist, I tell you that right now! #

# I believe a man should own his
own house and car and cow #

# I like this private ownership
and I want to be left alone #

# Let the government run its business
and let me run my own #

Our education is proceeding a pace
as to how Russia operates

and how they got the atom bomb,

not by independent research, but from America,

from traitors within our own ranks.

This is a special broadcast on
the scene as Sing Sing prison,

where the Rosenbergs have just been executed.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg have
gone to the electric chair.

The first to go into the death chamber
was Julius Rosenberg.

He walked with an impassible
expression on his face.

He walked in slowly.

He was preceded by a rabine

who was singing the 23rd salm,
which everyone knows very well.

He proceeded immediately over to the chair.

He didn't say a word to anyone,
he didn't see to anyone.

He sat down on the chair, straps were applied,

and the first jolt of electricity was sent
through his body at 20.04 of the night.

She died a lot harder.

When it appeared that she had received
enough electricity to kill an ordinary person,

and have received the exact amount
that killed her husband,

the doctors went over and
pulled down the cheap...

prison dress a little dark green pulled job... and
place the steps... the steplescope... I can say it,

place the stethoscope... to her

and then looked around, looked at each other
rather dumbfounded and seemed surprised

that she was not dead.

Believing she was dead, the attendants
had taken off the ghastly

strappings and electrodes
and... black belts, so far.

These had to be readjusted again,

and she was given more electricity, which
started again and a ghastly plume of smoke

that rose from her head

and went up against the skylight... overhead.

After two more of these jolts,

Ethel Rosenberg... had met her Maker.
She'll have a lot of explaining to do to.

Immediately after the execution, the
corpses, the bodies were taken away.

There is nothing much to report
at this particular time.

There's don't be no demonstrations.

The heat here has been extremely
intense with a heavy fog in there,

and had been a bit tension about
this whole proceeding up here,

but it is all over, the news
men had been left first,

and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
have gone to the electric chair.

That was an on-the-spot report of the
execution tonight at Sing Sing prison

of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.

Now The Great Day Show,

as we join Red Benson and The Gang in the
marine barracks in Brooklyn Navy Yard.

The program is already in fact.

The question before us is this:

should the hydrogen bomb be build?

All the world knows we Americans
are constructive, not destructive.

However distasteful this maybe to
us, there is no choice in the matter:

let us build the bomb.

Is my decided opinion

that the United States of America
should immediately begin

the construction of the H bomb.

I feel we must make the H bomb.

Is my personal opinion that
we should manufacture

and produce the H bomb in quantity.

The Russians will try it anyhow,

and should they learn the
secret of its manufacture

before we do, the life and security of all
freedom loving people will be in danger.

I would like to add however

that the United States of America should
not necessarily use this bomb,

but rather look upon it as a peaceful guardian
and protector of the basic American doctrines

of liberty and democracy

against the obstacles of red fascisms,
materialistic and atheistic philosophy.

If the communist blocK does attack,

our radar sites and observers
will sound the alert.

Giant bombers will take to the air.

Jet fighters will scream aloud.

Fighters will account for some of the enemies,

but some will get through to your home.

In times of social crisis and tension,

in times when changes come so thick and fast

that the individual can no longer
place himself in his group,

when he knows that something
is wrong, but doesn't know what,

when he feels himself a
pawn, in times like these,

most men become highly suggestible.

They listened eagerly for any
voice which sounds authority.

They listen eagerly for anyone who
can tell them what is wrong

and what to do right,

who can diagnose their trouble
and prescribe a cure.

# Eisenhower, the man of the moment
Eisenhower, the man of the moment #

# Ike, Ike, we like Ike! #

# Ike, Ike, we want Ike! #

# We like the shine of your smile #

# We see the future in your eyes #

# You led our men to victory #

# You are the one we idolize. #

I don't mean to say, and no one can
say to you, that there are no dangers.

Of course there are risks
if we are not vigilant,

but we do not have to be hysterical.

We can be vigilant, we can be Americans, we
can stand up and hold up our heads and say:

America is the greatest force that God has
ever allowed to exist on His footsdoom.

As such, it is up to us to lead this world
to a peaceful and secure existence,

and I assure you: we can do it.

Now, if we first take a look
at the strength of America,

you and I know that is the most
productive nation on Earth,

that we are richer, by any
standard of comparison,

that any other nation in the world.

We know that we have great military
strength, economic, intellectual.

But all in all, this total strength of America
is one of those things we called,

and the world calls, unbelievable.

Now, by then, with all his strength
should we be worrying at times

about what the world is doing to us?

Actually we see threats coming from all angles,
the internal and external, and we wonder

what's going to happen to us
individually and as a nation.

Now, perhaps I can illustrate some of
the reasons for this concern of today.

Now, only a year ago the hydrogen
bomb was exploded in the Pacific.

Last month, another series of it taken...

Now this transfer of power,
this increase of power

from the musket and the little cannon
all the way to the hydrogen bomb

in a single lifetime is indicative of the
things that have happened to us.

They'd rather indicate how far

the advances of science had
outrace our social conscience.

How much more we have developed
scientifically than we are capable of

handling emotionally and intellectually.

So that is one of the reasons that
we have this great concern,

of which the hydrogen bomb
is merely a dramatic symbol.

- Dad, I finished.
- Ok, ok.

Me too. The new puzzle, where is it?

- In my bookcase.
- Thanks, daddy.

Kenny, put the news, it's about that time.

- Come on, dad.
- You can watch that show tomorrow.

- Ok.
- Thanks.

Anyone of intelligence and information is
hoping and praying that we won't have

a third world war,

because in this age of atomic weapons,
war would be... a third world war

would be a catastrophe for all mankind,

and then finally, and this is quite significant,

about sixty percent of the american people
reviewed in the study which we made

through the University of Michigan a year ago,

that they believed that the military could
stop the atomic bombs from falling

upon the United States.

Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you that
the military will tell you that today

they cannot stop a successful Russian attack.

That can be corroborated rather dramatically
and we didn't plan it this way, governor,

but the floor manager has just handed me

a bulletin saying that the Russians
had just exploded a hydrogen bomb.

We must learn to live in a world where
we have the hydrogen bomb

and the enemy of freedom
has the hydrogen bomb.

It can destroy any city, that means Fort Worth
and Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Amarillo,

El Paso, yes, Johnson City.

# Every dollar I make goes for taxes and bill #

# Perhaps they've discovered the cure for my ill #

# Ho, hai, ho, the hydrogen bomb #

# God bless it all for let it fall #

# Ho, hai, ho, the hydrogen bomb #

# Oh, God, have mercy on me #

The problem this time is especially acute

because this entire area of the Pacific
is subject to radiological fallout,

and this area is inhabited
by some 20,000 people.

The meteorologists had
predicted a wind condition

which should had carried the fallout to
the north of a group of small atollons

lying to the east of Bikini.

The wind failed to follow the predictions

but shifted south of that line,

and the little islands of Rongelap, Rongerik and
Utirik were in the edge of the path of the fallout.

The task force commander rapidly evacuated
all the people from these islands.

They were taken to the island of Kwajelin,
where we maintain a naval establishment,

and there they've placed under continuous
and competent medical supervision.

I visited they there last week.

Today, a whole month after the event,

the medical staff on Kwajelin have advised
us that they anticipate normalness,

except, of course, diseases which
may be hereafter contracted.

The 236 natives appeared
to me to be well and happy.

The survey aircraft carefully searched
the area and reported no shipping.

A Japanese fishing trawler appears
to have been missed by the search,

but based on a statement
attributed to their skipper,

that in effect he saw the flash of the explosion
and heard the concussion six minutes later,

it must have been well within the danger area.

At the time of the explosion

the tuna ship had been sailing far outside the
designated safe area of a 75-mile radius.

Three hours after the H bomb had been detonated,

a downpour of radioactive ash descended on
The Fortunate Dragon and it's crew of 23.

None of them knew the
nature of the deadly stole.

It was three days for before the ship and
it's contaminated crew and fishing catch

sailed into port.

By that time the men suffered from beginning
symptoms of deadly radiation poisoning.

By the time their illnesses have
been properly diagnosed,

the hot fish brought back in their holes had
been sold in the markets all over Japan.

A panic ensued.

Midnight burials of recent catches in
the vicinity of the h-bomb explosion

took place all over Japan.

The bottom had dropped down the fish market,

and the Japanese people chose
to do without the staple food

for a long time after the tragic affair.

Another byproduct of the stupendous mid
Pacific blast unfolds in San Francisco,

where tuna fish, supposedly made
radioactive during the tests,

are scrutinized by federal agents
armed with Geiger counters,

for signs of contamination.

Hot tea anyone?

That's not an invitation, it's a problem
for the Coast Guard and customs

by the arrival in Brooklyn of a cargo
of japanese tea slightly radioactive.

Final conclusion: the tea's radioactivity is
within safety limits, not too hot to handle.

- Warm.
- Yeah. June in January that's what I say.

If you ask me, I think it's because
of those atom bombs.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

They've done some cockeyed... of the world.

I think they got the south in the Equator.

Just like I keep saying... everybody's
so uncertain about everything.

They don't seem to know what's gonna happen.

Bourbon, straight.

Well, as I was saying,

I wouldn't be very eager as much about the
atom bomb if it were to kill you right out.

What scares me is that awful
gas that deforms you.

- Yeah, that would be bad.
- Yeah.

# It's the drink you don't pour #

# Now when you take one soup
you won't need involved #

# You're small as a beetle or big as a whale #

# Bum... atomic cocktail #

Corporal, give me your name
and hometown address.

My name is corporal George Morland,
I'm from Elmhurst, Illinois.

I'm tech sargent George Portell
from Dorchester, Massachusetts.

Jerry Snyder, from Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Sargent Weaver.

- Where are you from, Sargent Weaver?
- Columbus, Georgia.

- Where you from... Sargent?
- Portland, Oregon.

- Where are you from?
- I'm New York City.

Little Rock... Kansas City...
Missouri... New Jersey...

Gentlemen, I want to welcome
you to Camp Desert Rock.

This will be your last briefing before
you go up out to the firing area

and take part of an atomic detonation.

The tactical situation behind
troop test "Smokey" is this:

the mythical enemy, which has
landed on the coast of California,

has made a deep penetration close to supplys,

special weapons storage and
missile launching installations

in the vicinity of Las Vegas and Hoover Dam.

The tactical commander decided at
this point to use an atomic weapon

in this assault on the enemy.

The mission of these men is to move as
quickly as possible into the blasted area

and exploit the breech in the enemy lines.

You are here to participate
in an atomic maneuver.

This is not a hap hazard maneuver.

Careful planning for it started months back.

Watched from a safe distance,

this explosion is one of the most
beautiful sights ever seen by man.

You're probably saying: So it's beautiful.

What makes it so dangerous?

Basically there are only three
things to think about:

Blast,

Heat...

and Radiation.

Radiation: this is the one new effect obtained
by the use of an atomic weapon.

Truthfully, it's the least important
of the three efects,

as far as the soldier on
the ground is concerned.

You can't see radiation, feel it, smell it or taste.

Film badges and dosimeters issued to you
enable the radiological safety monitor

in your unit to read the
amount of your exposure.

The radiation level may be high,

but if you follow orders, you'll be moved
out in time to avoid sickness.

Finally, if you receive enough gamma radiation
to cause sterility or severe sickness,

you'll be killed by blast, flying
debris or heat anyway.

Well, that's the story.

Don't worry about yourselves.

As far as the test is concerned, you'll be okay.

Well, we knew now exactly where
we'd be for the big show.

All we had to do is wait.

Now that it's so close it makes
you feel kind of restless.

You wonder if everything's
gonna turn out alright

and filled your mind no matter
what you were doing.

What seems to be the trouble, soldier?
You look a little bit worried.

Well, I am, chaplain, just a little bit.

Actually there's no need to be
worried as the Army has taken

all of the necessary precautions to
see that were perfectly safe here.

Sir, have you been on one of these shots before?

Yes, I've had the opportunity to see
a number of the atomic tests.

I feel that as a chaplain, it is my
responsibility to be with my men.

What's it like, chaplain?

First of all, one sees a very, very bright light,

followed by a sharp wave, and then
you hear the sound of the blast

and then it seems as there's a minor earthquake,

and then you look up and you see the...
fireball as it ascends up into the heaven.

It's a wonderful sight to behold.

30 seconds.

15 seconds.

10 seconds.

5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

The blast shock passes in a matter of seconds

and the heat and blast effects
you can see and feel.

You cannot sense the presence
of nuclear radiation effects.

Alpha and beta particles, because
of their low penetrating power,

are stopped by most surfaces,
even a soldier skin.

They are a hazard only when materials
emitting these particles

get into the body through breaks in the skin

or through the nose or mouth.

Didn't keep your mouth shut
and you get a mouthful of dirt.

I got my mouth filled with dirt.

- How about the smoke and radiation?
- I Could'nt see, I could'nt see for quietest well.

Hey, young, did you wear any type of protective
clothing or just what did you wear?

None, just the regular war cloth.

We see on your lapels here this white badge.

- Can you tell me what that is?
- Uh, that's a tin badge to determine or to take

the amount of radiation
you received in the area.

And they can tell commander
if you received a lethal dose.

- That's right?
- That's right.

If you were driving from Los Angeles
to Salt Lake City on US Highway 91,

you would pass through St. George, Utah,

just a short way from the Nevada
Test Site 140 miles to the west.

Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt this
program to bring you important news.

Word has just been received from
the Atomic Energy Commission

that due a change in wind direction

the residue from this morning's
atomic detonation

is drifting in the direction of St. George.

It is suggested that everyone remain indoors
for one hour or until further notice.

There is no danger, this is simply routine
Atomic Energy Commission safety procedure.

Parents need not be alarmed
about children at school.

No recesses outdoors will be permitted.

And as the people of St. George took cover,

it was natural that some of them have
questions about atomic tests.

What is the atomic bomb?

Why do we have to test bombs?

A little of the amount of radiation
will cause how many mutations?

Never before have so many know so little
about a subject so big and so important.

The capabilities of most weapons
are pretty well understood,

but when it comes to atomic explosions
the guessing game starts.

Alright, let's take a few minutes right now
and get acquainted with the A bomb.

Mean Test Able.

A submarine bomb exploded in
the harbor might affect the city.

The affected area would be a poor picnic site,

but might be able briefly
to pass through quickly

with a varying degree of risk.

Risk is something the military
doesn't have the monopoly.

Occupational hazards are accepted in
a matter of fact manner in civilian life.

Risk is part of the pattern of daily routine.

Some of the falsehoods circulating about
radiation effects are trivial but upsetting.

They've being drive to one self esteem

and will eventually result in
a race of bold headed people.

Just imagine it. Imagine yourself with no hair.

They'll call you all skinhead, all cone dome.

And that's not all radioactivity will do.

It will...

Enough exposure to radiation
will cause loss of hair.

The treatment, if you insist, would
be symptomatic: a toupee.

But the condition would only be temporary.

Your hair would come back,
same color, same quality.

Which puts the finger squarely
upon one of the major fallacies

in the public attitude toward atomic weapons:

it's the fallacy of devoting eighty-five
percent of one's worrying capacity

to an agent that constitutes
only about fifteen percent

of an atomic bomb destroying potential,

and that's unsound, doesn't fit.

There are those few who love to maintain

that there is no actual threat
to the free world at all,

certainly none that can justify either
nuclear testing or nuclear armament.

The opposite viewpoint holds that the
development of our nuclear power

has been absolutely necessary protection
against communist hostility and nuclear threats.

In this view, the fallout casualties, if any,

will be seen as those of unidentified
soldiers in the service of humanity,

unknown soldiers in a war which is not started.

We're going to be talking about nuclear energy
and... the kinds of things that could happen

with an atomic emergency,

and... we do this not to worried you,

but nor to frighten you, we really we've
got admit that we live in a atomic age,

so exist an atomic bomb, so
we have to be aware of this,

and know what to do in case
an emergency happens.

If there will be a need to spend
two weeks in a fallout shelter,

we have had our survival kit. For the
food supply packed variety of croods,

soups, evaporated milk, vegetables, napkins.

The purpose of our demonstration today
is to show you the actual preparation

of one of the meals which was
prepared in a modern day key.

One new meal consists of the following food:

canned chicken, peas, dry
potatoes, tomato juice.

My poster is on defenses against fallout, and if
you're far outside during a nuclear explosion

decontamination may be necessary.

You have to burn or bury
all your clothes and food

and afterwards you should wash thoroughly.

John, let me interrupt you here just a moment.

I have some film here that I think
would describe what might happen,

will describe a little about the atom, so
John, why don't you catch the lights

- and we'll try?
- Good.

# There was a turtle by the name of Burt #

# and Burt the Turtle was very alert #

# When danger threated him,
he would never get hurted #

# He know just what to do #

# He duck and cover #

# Duck and cover #

Now, you and I don't have shells
to crawl into like Burt the Turtle,

so we have to cover up in our own way.

Paul and Patty know this.

no matter where they go or what they do,

they always try to remember what to do
if the atom bomb explodes right then.

It's a bomb! Duck and cover!

Here's Tony going to his cub scout meeting.

Tony knows the bomb can explode
anytime of the year, day or night.

Duck and cover!

Atta boy Tony, that flash means "act fast".

Sundays, holidays, vacation time, we
must be ready every day all the time

to do the right thing if the
atomic bomb explodes.

Duck and cover!

And that's the first thing
to do: duck and cover.

First you duck, then you cover.

You duck and cover.

Duck and cover under the table.

It's a bomb! Duck and cover! Duck and cover!

Duck and cover yourself.

# He did what we all must learn to do #

# you and you and you and you
you and you and you and you #

# you and you and you and you #

# you and you and you and you #

- # Duck and cover #
- Remember what to do, friends.

Now tell me right out loud,

what are you supposed to do
when you see the flash?

Duck and cover!

- Question.
- Yes?

How far we have to be from
the blast for get through it?

Well, let's take a 20 megatons surface burst.

You would have a good chance of surviving

if you're more than 12 miles
from the point of detonation.

A bomb equivalent to 20 million tons of TNT

would cause an intense fire, called a firestorm,

in an area about 2,000 square miles
around the center of the blast,

and in such an area it would
be futile, desperately futile,

to construct what are called fallout shelters.

This man, like thousands of
others around the country,

is suffering from a dread disease
called "nucleorosis".

The symptoms: nuclear blindness.

All you can see is a mushroom cloud.

He's blinded from the fear of it,

deaf from the sound of it,

and there is a short circuit in his brain.

He can only think on the awful
threath of the nuclear bomb.

We ought to learn something from the
Second War World at this respect.

And the bombing there,

even by Second World War bombs, on
Hamburg, on Tokyo and on other cities,

showed that such shelters became

centers for incinerating or asphyxiating
the people who are in them.

A fallout shelter in your basement

will give adequate shielding
from radioactive fallout.

Finally getting the message.

Are you?

A new housing development near Denver,
Colorado, shows the nation's first model

homes with built in fallout shelters.

The room is designed with an atomic war in mind,

but behind each eight inch thick
reinforced concrete wall

it may prove to be just what the
herring housewive is looking for:

one life with the kids gets too hectic.

You don't think that shelters are
deterrent to a nuclear war either?

On the contrary, I believe that psychologically
they will push both us and the Russians

into thinking more of having the war.

There are some instances where
you may be ahead of us,

for example in the... development of
your... the thrust of your rockets

for the investigation of outer space.

Maybe in some instances, for example the
color television, we are ahead of you.

But, in order for both rise...

No, in rockets we've passed you by...

We'll show you our success in you show
the actual possibilities of America,

and we will be able to say: "Here
are the possibilities of America".

How long does it exist? How many
years? Three hundred years?

150 years of independence?

Then we will say that America exists
150 years and this is its level.

We are 42 years not quite.

Another seven years we'll be
in the same level of America.

Then in the future we will go ahead
and wait for you in the crossroad.

That increasing communication
will teach us domething,

and it will teach you some things too,

because after all you don't know everything.

Yes, I don't know everything

and I would say that you know absolutely
nothing about communism,

nothing except fear of it.

Let's say you've got your
family in your shelter,

the attack is on.

A question might come up of admitting
anyone over and above the number

for the home shelter was design.

I'd say we should rely on the best
prudential judgment that the father,

or the one responsible for the shelter,
can make under circumstances,

but I say let him think twice before
he admits the needy stranger

if admitting the needy stranger is going
to cut down the chances of survival

of the group it's already there.
And then that final point:

Can a man have protective devices
in order to protect his family

once they are in the shelter

from, let's say, strangers that
try to use a crowbar to get in?

I'd say from what I have been talking
about, the matter of self-defense.

It would be wise for a man to at least to way
the consider the possibility of putting

some protective devices in the shelter together
with the other elements of the survival kit.

Alright, you've been down
there eight to ten days.

You come out and you find that half or three
quarters of Los Angeles has been destroyed,

but how you going to continue to live?

Well, the first thing we have to recognize
is that half of Los Angeles is destroyed,

maybe eighty, ninety percent of the
people will be dead and there will be

fewer mouths to feed, and those of us who'd
survive, we'll have more water and food

to divide out.

# Last night I was dreaming #

# dreaming about the H bomb #

# Well, the bomb went off and I was caught #

# I was the only way on the ground #

# There were 13 women #

# And only one man in the town #

# 13 women at all and
only one man in town #

# And as funny as it may be #

# The one and only man in town was me #

# Thirteen women and me
the only man around. #

# I had two girls every morning #

# Seeing if I was well fed #

# And believe you me, one sweetened my tea #

- # While another one buttered my bread #
- Cheese, macaroni, instant potatoes...

# Something exploded down inside #

# and rushed tears up in my eyes #

# Oh, yes, I hava that funny feeling #

# I guess it's my atomic love for you #

Our artillery and our Tactical Air Force in the
Pacific, are now equipped, at this moment,

with atomic explosives which can

and will be used on military targets
with precision and effectiveness.

It's just...

On the steps of the nation's Capitol
the bell announces the opening

of Mental Health Week.

It's rung by Vice President Nixon, and
the Senator Smathers of Florida.

Characterizing mental health as the
nation's number one problem,

the Vice President says that the ringing
of the bell throughout the nation

will be a reminder of suffering Americans.

# Atom bomb baby, little atom bomb #

# I want her in my wigwam #

# She's just the way I want her to be #

# They're gonna live live...
live in my fallout shelter #

# It was a 50 megatons atom jump #

# Like a radioatomic bomb #

By all means provide some tranquilizers to ease
the strain and monotony of life in a shelter.

A bottle of 100 should be adequate
for a family of four.

Tranquilizers are not a narcotic,
they're not habit formers.

And by the way, do you know exactly what
your family would do if an attack came,

say, at ten o'clock tomorrow morning?

It's a good question, isn't?

- There were meant, dearest.
- George.

I make a toast to my bride-to-be.

Darling.

Darling and I toast the most
wonderful man in all the world.

Why, Lucy, your eyes are filled with tears.

My heart is filled with gladness.

Oh, look, the orchestra's getting ready.

Dance with me, George!

George, I wonder if we thought this too.

- I'm afraid for you, George.
- Oh, nonsense, my silly, you.

Yes, George, afraid.

- My fianc?e, Luther Marshall...
- We interrupt our normal program

in the interest of security
and civil defense measures

as requested for the United States government.

Attention, attention!

This is an official Civil Defense warning.

This is not a test.

The United States are under nuclear attack.

Take cover immediately in
your nearer nuclear shelter.

Repeat: the United States
are under nuclear attack.

This is an official Civil Defense broadcast.

Enemy aircrafts are over Canada

and headed this way.

The United States are under nuclear attack.

Take cover immediately in
the area fall-out shelter.

We repeat: the nation is under nuclear attack.

This is an extreme emergency.
You must stay in calm.

Go to your designated shelter without delay.

This is an official Civil Defense broadcast.

This is not a test.

The United States is under nuclear attack.

Take cover immediately in
the area fallout shelter.

Repeat: the United States
are under nuclear attack.

Take cover immediately in
your area fallout shelter.

Now children, I want that you
sit down here against the wall.

That's it.

Now go get against it.

Now listen, kids:

If they'll drop an atomic bomb

it may take off any second now.

Whatever happens, I'll give the signal
that's all right for us to get up.

If there's any explosion, we'll wait
about a minute after's all over,

then we'll go upstairs and took a look
at all. See if all's right to clean up.

Children, you better clean up the
broken glass and all these debris.

All an all, let's say we've been
very lucky around here.

Nothing to do now but...

wait for orders from the authorities and relax.

# The sun goes down and
leaves me sad and blue #

# The iron curtain falls on
this cold war with you #

# 'Cause you won't speak and
I won't speak, that's true #

# Two stubborn people with
a cold war to go through. #

# Oh why, oh why, should love ever
come to couples like you and me #

# Whose cold, cold wars are never done
and whose hearts just can't be free? #

# So let's do right and let's
just say we're through #

# I just can't stand another
cold, cold war with you. #

# Oh, why, oh, why should love ever
come to couples like you and me #

# Whose cold, cold wars are never done
and whose hearts just can't be free? #

# So let's do right and let's
just say we're through #

# I just can't stand another
cold, cold war with you. #