Chapter 44
February 21, 1984
1130 hours/1630 GMT
The Pentagon
Washington, D.C.
The radios were going off constantly inside the Pentagon. U.S. forces were in full NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) gear, with vehicles buttoned down tight and air filtration systems running. Commanders frantically radioed to Heidelberg for orders, and Heidelberg was calling Brussels, whereupon Washington was receiving calls from SACEUR. Because of the need to track the situation live, the NMCC was monitoring the tactical communications, and the radiomen were nearly going mad listening to the constant din. One of them heard something odd, and flagged over an officer. "
Oh, God, what the hell is this? Yellow haze all around....Jesus, why aren't those infantry in vehicles? They're choking out there. The Reds must've fired chemical missiles. Pull back! Pull back now!" The officer put the headset down and raced up to the conference room, where Brussels and DeLauer (once again taking point with Weinberger at the White House) were on a conference call. "Sir, we're picking up radio traffic in Germany. The Soviets have fired off more chemical weapons. By what I heard, it sounds like some sort of...I don't now, toxin or something. The radio described infantrymen choking and collapsing." DeLauer went pale. "General Rogers, I think you've got a problem over there. More chemical weapons hitting the front now. We've got to pull back and get some room between us and them." "Dick, listen, we've had them on the run. The winds in theatre mean that blowback is going to hit them harder than us. We might lose some men, but they are going to take greater losses. I don't like saying this, I care about every one of those men out there, but this will turn in our favor, I promise you. Do I have permission to retaliate?" "What are you planning, Bernie?" DeLauer asked. "I'm gonna drop some nerve agents on Brno in Czechoslovakia. That'll knock out one of their big train yards, slow down their reinforcement into Germany by a lot."
DeLauer patched in the Situation Room at the White House. "Mr. President, the Soviets have launched more chemical weapons. General Rogers wants to retaliate against one of their big train junctions in kind, using VX gas." A pause. The old familiar baritone, weary with lack of sleep and the fatigue of stress. "We have no choice, do we? These bastards just keep upping the ante. They think they can win. Maybe they will, but we're not going to sit back and take it, either. Permission granted." Within minutes, four Lance missiles, loaded with M143 bomblets inside the warhead, were sent airborne from their mobile launchers at Heidelberg. The situation was so fluid that MP's hadn't even cleared out Daniel Schorr's CNN crew, which shot footage of the rising missiles, transmitted it, and then packed their gear and went to look for shelter. By the time the missiles were falling in Brno, the news was out to the world.
*****
"As the reader is well aware, the levels of retaliation did increase rapidly after the Brno attack. While the Soviet chemical weapons attacks on the front increased in ferocity and number, the wind-induced blowback of those weapons onto less-protected Soviet soldiers caused more casualties for them than it did their intended targets. At approximately 1730 hours, it is believed that Marshal Ogarkov issued tactical nuclear weapon release authority to the theater commander. At 1745 hours, the United States Army forward headquarters at Heidelberg was destroyed by a nuclear warhead, believed launched by a Soviet SS-20 missile. Shortly thereafter, the United States activates the Emergency Broadcast System and President Reagan, along with key Cabinet secretaries, is evacuated by helicopter to Andrews Air Force Base, and then Air Force One, taking off right before Washington is destroyed by Soviet nuclear missiles."
The End: The 72 Hours of World War III and Nuclear Holocaust
University of Saskatchewan Press (2004)
*****
"I’ve seen the lights go out on Broadway
I saw the mighty skyline fall
The boats were waiting at The Battery
The union went on strike
They never sailed at all
You know those lights were bright on Broadway
That was so many years ago
Before we all lived here in Florida
Before the Mafia took over Mexico
There are not many who remember
They say a handful still survive
To tell the world about
The way the lights went out
And keep the memory alive"
Billy Joel, "Miami 2017 (I've Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)"
1245 hours/1745 GMT
Fort Myers, FL
The smallish living room was jammed by everyone, save for Rosa and Adriana, watching the television intently. This had been the one constant in everyone’s lives for days, with the channel of choice being NBC. John Chancellor had been anchoring with Tom Brokaw for the past few hours, and it fell to Chancellor to deliver the news that the end of life as they had all known it was nigh.
"Reports from Brussels are that the American forward headquarters at Heidelberg has been destroyed with a nuclear weapon. This would mean the obvious, unfortunately, that it will not stop there, that the third nuclear weapon used today now outnumbers all of the nuclear weapons used in wartime for 38 years. It also means that Daniel Schorr, our esteemed colleague with CNN, a tremendously brave, dogged, talented reporter, is dead. I've been a friend of Daniel's for many years....[Chancellor swallowed back a sob at this point] I have no words. Tom?"
"As John said, it certainly appears that we have reached an unfortunate endgame here. I don't know how much more time we have left, but I suspect the Emergency Broadcast System will be taking over momentarily. I would like to take this time to reflect on my great fortune to have sat in an anchor chair that John so graciously prepared for me, and that if this is my last broadcast, I am grateful that I got to do it next to a true gentleman in John Chancellor. I…we all understood it would be a risk to stay in New York City after the terrible events six hours ago began this day for America, but this is my job, and I am proud of the work we've all done, including everyone behind the scenes here at NBC News....I'm hearing in my earpiece that the President leaving the White House in Marine One with Secretaries Shultz and Weinberger, Chief of Staff Baker, and National Security Advisor McFarlane. The rest of the Cabinet is also leaving in helicopters. It seems that this is it. Thank you for watching us all. I hope you kno-"
The Emergency Broadcast System’s jarring alarm tone replaced the images of the NBC newsmen as tears began flowing from everyone's faces. Klima stood up to go hold his wife and daughter, and within seconds, the buzzer sound gave way to the robotic voice. "
We interrupt this program at the request of the White House. This is the Emergency Broadcast System. All normal broadcasting has been discontinued during this emergency. This is station WBBH television. This station will continue to broadcast, furnishing news, official information, and instruction as soon as possible for the southwest section of Florida. If you are not in the southwest section of Florida, tune to a station furnishing information for you area. I repeat, we interrupt this program at the request of the White House. All normal broadcasting has been discontinued during this emergency. If this station goes off the air, you radio station for the Emergency Broadcast System is 770 AM. I repeat, if this station goes off the air, your radio station for the Emergency Broadcast System is 770 AM. A nuclear attack has been launched against the United States. Please close all doors and windows and shelter in the lowest interior room you can find. If you are not under cover and cannot reach shelter, stay in your car under an overpass. Do not use your telephone. All lines should be kept open for official use. The Emergency Broadcast System has been activated to keep you informed. Listen carefully to all announcements only on your designated stations. I repeat, the United States is under nuclear attack. Please take shelter immediately in the lowest interior room you can find. Prepare to stay indoors for 14 days, and ensure you have enough food and water to last that long. Do not go outside under any circumstances until your local, state, or national authorities have declared it safe to..."
The wailing sound of the air raid sirens kicking on was almost overpowering. Mrs. Simmons cried out for a moment before covering her mouth. Rosa sobbed into her husband's shoulder. Those who remained in the living room realized they needed to leave the living room per the warnings and quickly moved into the bathrooms and hallways. Simmons turned on the hand-cranked radio to save batteries, and they continued to listen to the monotonous EBS alert while the sirens echoed off empty streets. Luis and his parents bowed their heads and prayed aloud for deliverance.
*****
The
Independence battle group had its fighters in the air, ready to intercept the incoming Soviet bomber force. P-3 Orions out of Key West were patrolling, watching for any Soviet submarines, as destroyers and cruisers pinged away around
Independence. In Florida proper, the EAN had gone out several minutes ago to all forces, and the towers did heroic work in getting everyone off the ground in time. They were headed up, rocketing skyward, leaving the ground behind....the plan, such as it was, hinged on being able to stay aloft long enough to outlast the missile impacts while keeping away bombers that could do more damage.
The first mushroom cloud that rose from Miami had to have been an ICBM. Then another, second one almost instantaneously. MacDill went off the air, blown to high hell from an ICBM. The Kennedy Space Center, tracking inbounds, was talking with
Independence when it got wiped out by multiple MIRV's. As soon as the first SLBM was spotted rising southwest of the Keys, the old
Hotel-class sub it originated from got off a grand total of that one missile before it was blown out of the water by a pouncing P-3. An
Echo-class sub caught one of the cruisers from the battle group with its pants down, putting two torpedoes into its starboard side. The victory was short-lived, though, as the cruiser's anti-sub helicopter returned the favor. The
Echo was too damned noisy to effectively run.
The bomber force arrived while this was taking place, along with what remained of the MiGs in Cuba, and a general melee resulted over the Florida Straits. The slower Badgers struggled to get through the picket line, especially without a strong escort force this time, but the Blinders used their speed to outmaneuver their pursuers, joining more SLBM’s from old
Hotel-class submarines that, in most cases, didn’t get to launch their full three missiles. [
It is important to note that newer missile subs, like the later Yankee classes and Delta classes, didn’t need to leave home port to launch. They stayed under the Arctic icepacks and had the range to hit any American target from there.] Key West, Homestead, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando. Cities and bases dropping like flies, with the Sentry crews tracking the detonations on the verge of despair. Their friends, families, lovers, memories being destroyed in hellfire and brimstone below them, while they sat in their airplane as helpless as a newborn infant. The Blinders that survived the bands of interceptors continued north on their mission of death, then turned west towards the Panhandle. Behind them, at least a million people lay dead, burning to ashes in the heat of the nuclear firestorms.
Jacksonville never had a chance. With the carrier group gone, and its few fighters not equipped for handling submarines, it was essentially unguarded, and received multiple doses of instant sunshine from a
Hotel sub that launched unmolested at NAS Jacksonville, Jacksonville International Airport, and NAS Mayport. Worsening the situation was the St. John's River, already higher because of rain over the past day or so, having much of its water sent rushing through the low-lying city by the seismic energy of the detonation at NAS Jacksonville, which was right on the river. Those who'd survived the attack, mainly in the city's south, were faced with rising waters in homes whose stability was shaky at best.
Over the Panhandle, the interceptors were determined to protect their corner of Florida. While Eglin AFB and its auxiliary fields, such as Hurlburt, were the target of an ICBM (because of the sheer amount of space it took up), the bombers had the rest. A spirited battle didn’t save Tyndall AFB, but the last Blinders (one of which was technically hit by friendly fire when the Eglin blast wave obliterated it and the F-16s defending the area) were taken out by the Phantoms from Pensacola, saving both NAS Pensacola and NAS Whiting Field. It was a small victory, something which the survivors of the day’s onslaught would appreciate in a future they could not imagine.
