Duck and Cover

If, like me, you learned the 3 R's in 1950's America, you surly remember that bit of advice from Miss Pringle: if you see the mushroom fireball, 'Duck and Cover' under your desk to survive the nuclear attack. And we damn well practiced it.

'Duck and Cover' is also the title of the talk last night at the Milton Township Democratic Party's monthly meeting in Wheaton. Subtitled, 'Nuclear Weapons: A Pictorial History, it was presented by Bob Farquhar (USAF Ret.), a life long expert on nuclear weapons, including the need to prevent their proliferation and use. Bob held Milton Democrats in thrall as he raced through the last eight decades of nuclear development, successful testing, mass murder in Japan, unconscionable testing and proliferation around the world, near misses from accidents and human idiocy, and Uncle Sam's plan to blow a trillion dollars over the next decade to keep our No. 1 nuclear power status.
The pictorial history wasn't pretty. In 80 slides, Farquhar showed us scenes of human devastation truly difficult to view and comprehend. The 70,000 nukes man has built have been reduced world wide to about 10,000, with 1,500 in the US still armed and ready to fire from planes, subs and missiles.

Farquhar emphatically scoffed at the nuclear renegades North Korea, India, Pakistan and Israel, who all refuse to join the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty or cooperate with any concerted efforts to reduce the nuclear threat. Israel and South Africa developed their nukes cooperatively. Israel now has 80 and won't even admit to their existence. And South Africa? They built two and got rid of both, being the only nuclear power to quit the club.

He also re-enforced my long held belief that the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings were totally unnecessary. In his words, "The guys who spent $2 billion building the bomb were not going to be denied the thrill of seeing it work on the enemy." Farquhar also scoffed at the hysterical 'bomb Iran' crowd's endless lies about the non-existent Iranian nuclear program.

Back in 1951, my folks informed this inquiring 6 year old about WWII, the Japanese bombings, and the new threat from a nuclear armed Russia. That was a tough burden to shoulder and it caused its share of nuclear nightmares along the way. In 1962, 53 years ago this month, I woke up ever day for a week or so thankful we still had a world to savor during the Cuban Missile Crisis, caused in part, by America's obsession with destroying the Commie Castro. Since then, there have been enough nuclear near misses (near hits, actually) to start up the nightmares again had they been publicized at the time.
Farquhar concluded with his biggest worry. He preaches today mainly to folks like me who grew up with an understanding of and concern for riding mankind of the nuclear threat. The younger generations are largely unaware we even have a nuclear stockpile ready to vaporize their cell phones and frantic lifestyles. The masters of war worldwide largely pull their self destructive strings in secrecy due to our abysmal ignorance.

Bob Farquhar's mission, in the fine spirit of Don Quixote, is to tilt that nuclear windmill.