Dealing With Reality Part 2

Before the start of our mid-point Fallout Shelter Management class at the University of Alaska one of our instructors turned on the radio to hear the weekend weather report. An emergency notice interrupted and we heard "a nuclear attack is imminent – seek shelter immediately, this is not a drill." As the warning was repeated the air raid sirens went off with the signal for a nuclear attack.

As the sirens wailed we were herded into a fallout shelter – a large room outfitted with a heavy fireproof door, air filters, water, food supplies, and first aid supplies provided by Civil Defense. 30 of us crowded into the room. In order to make things realistic some of the participants were volunteers recruited from the University staff and students. It would have looked strange if our class were the only people in the shelter. We did not know the drill was fake!

Another touch of realism occurred shortly after we entered the shelter. We assumed a position away from the exterior walls of the room, seated on the floor facing away from the walls and door, head down, covering our heads and faces. No sooner had we done this than there was a loud rumbling explosion that shook the building. Dust filled the air and the lights went out. The explosion was set off by mining engineers on the backside of the hill occupied by the campus. But we didn't know that.

All we had for light were some oil lanterns and flashlights. The air got warm and stale. The food consisted of water and survival crackers – a rather unpalatable cracker. It was supposed to have vitamins and nutrients. I don't know if it was for real or the lady was a good actor, but about halfway through the exercise one of the female students from the college went berserk. With the instructors' help she confined in a corner.

The shelter's Geiger counters measured the level of radioactivity in the area outside of our shelter. They registered contamination. The hall outside our shelter had been "destroyed" and was clogged with debris. Remember, this was done in the dark with flashlights providing the only light. Come to think of it, the instructors were the only ones who actually ventured outside our shelter, as they were the pros. Hmmm...

By the time the exercise was over we were convinced this was something we did not want to repeat. You cannot imagine what it is like to be crowded together with a bunch of strangers, in the dark, scared and having to rely on each other for survival. As a result of this training, dad decided it would be best if we had our own fallout shelter.

We lived right across the river from Ft. Wainwright – a target! Our garage had a concrete floor and dad choose to make the entrance to our shelter through that floor. We spent weekends working on the shelter. Once we got 4 feet below ground level, getting the dirt out of the hole became a chore. Dad finally concluded the whole thing was a waste of time and energy and we abandoned the project. Dad made the shelter into a cold cellar and it was used to winter ripen tomatoes, and as a storage area.

That ended our concern with surviving a nuclear attack. Comedian Bob Newhart did a routine about surviving an attack. When asked if he was building a shelter, he said, "No." Asked when he would build one Newhart replied, "I think I'll wait until after the bombs quit falling. There should be plenty of free building material lying around." A bit of gallows humor, but it reflected my parent's attitude. If the experts knew what they were talking about, the chances of surviving an attack were next to zero, even in a shelter.

If the Soviets got a bomb onto nearby Ft. Wainwright, all the survival training and preparation would have been useless. Fairbanks was at ground zero and the blast would have been concentrated by the valley walls. Nothing would have been left of the base or Fairbanks – just a glassy depression in the ground. This convinced dad to abandon the shelter project and other survival preparations. We couldn't dig deep enough to have made much difference.

Our family learned to deal with reality: do what we could and trust in the Good Lord for the rest. As a result I've never panicked or lost my sanity over things I have no control over. Nor do I go around destroying property, or reputations of others just to work out my frustration and anger. You can blame others all you want, but that does not change the reality of the fact that you are responsible for your own actions. If you chose to burn down or loot, then it is you that should be punished. Period. And that is reality. You can't always rely on government to do what needs to be done. So be wise in choosing who you vote for.