Would you have lasted in 1983?

[fscott]

Nope, 12 years old and my dad was with 12 GGW (nuke) Nike-Hercules AA rockets), our house was about 5 km from the base (but out of the line of sight (over the hill)). I might survive the initial blast, but the aftermath, I don't think so.

If I remember right the Nike Hercules were designed to go above Soviet bombers and blast them out of the sky and then later on is part of a primitive ABM system but either way I doubt any of them would be close to you and with their accuracy I'm not sure Russia would waste an entire bomb unless there's a lot of things around it they want to get rid of

 

[fscott]

It was MAD in 1983, just simply MAD!!!

Did the magazine ever sue them for copyright infringement?

 

[fscott]

NYC was most definitely targeted by nuclear weapons, that's not the argument. The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty had a provision for each signatory to have two anti-ballisitic missile complexes and no more than a total of 100 missiles. A large population along with the financial resources of Wall Street would be key in a national/international recovery, hence why 33 Thomas Street exists with its significant fraction of telephone switches in the US at the time. If a few also spared surrounding cities in the heat of the moment, well so be it, its not like the other side is going to have much of a chance to call 'foul'. It's called the 'Long Lines' building - interestingly, the name refers to a microwave over-horizon system in place in case just such a catastrophe occurs to ensure national communication remains effective. Washington was almost certainly *not* such a site, as to where the other one might have been I am not sure but would not be surprised if Alaska, southern Kansas/SW Missouri, North Bay OT, North Dakota, or especially central/eastern Tennessee came up.

And one very similar facility in Netcong New Jersey which 20 years ago was pretty rural
.

 

[flippikat]

Bottom line, while Wellington might have had a nuke aimed at it "just because", the odds are excellent NZ gets no hits at all.

If that's the case, good for me.. 7 year-old me & family were in Paraparaumu (just 45 minutes up the coast from Wellington). If the fallout was bad, we could have possibly moved away to stay with an Aunt in Waipukurau, just south of Hastings.

 

[modelcitizen]

NYC metro area.

Buh-bye.

 

[PSL]

OMG The BOSTON BRUINS....I know the RED ARMY team hated them....so yes its ashes for you guys- along with MONTREAL CANADIANS. ...OH YEAH AND THE BLACK HAWKS.

revenge all round.

 

[Nephi]

I doubt very much if my parents did survive they'd still have me, so no.

 

[redeclipse]

My parents had just married and moved to their giant decaying Victorian Gormenghast house on a hill in NJ. I was born the next year, so I wouldn't exist from fallout or firestorms from the NYC strike.

 

[duckie]

If I remember right the Nike Hercules were designed to go above Soviet bombers and blast them out of the sky and then later on is part of a primitive ABM system but either way I doubt any of them would be close to you and with their accuracy I'm not sure Russia would waste an entire bomb unless there's a lot of things around it they want to get rid of

You are correct, but my dad was a professional Dutch Airforce Sargent. 12th GGW mainbase was at Shöppingen, main Radar / nuke storage site (US controlled) etc.

 

[crackpot]

7 years old. My sister was 2. I lived a few miles south of Providence, RI. Spitting distance of TF Green Airport. A dozen or so miles as the crow flies Northwest of the Newport Naval Base. Maybe 15 miles from the Electric Boat facility at Quonset. Toasted and radioactive.

Though hopefully we’d have time to pack up and make it to my Mother’s cousin’s farm in rural Kilkenny Ireland. My dad would likely had to stay behind as he was a foreman at a factory that was likely making war materials at that point.

This is a depressing thread...

 

[MKD]

This is a depressing thread...

Or a positive one that none of this happened and we are living full and productive lives in a relatively safe and secure society

 

[NoOneFamous]

Eighteen, living in the sleepy North Yorkshire countryside, totally screwed. Two miles from Menwith Hill, an NSA/ CIA listening post that if rumour were true was dedicated to actually detecting the first signs of an attack from the Russian's communications before the missiles even get launched. Two Cray supercomputers on the base to crack the messages.
Just next door to that was a Navy communications base, HMS Forest Moor with literally fields of antennae, so yes, I'm dead.

Dad was working there in 82, we came back in the early Spring. There was no CIA there, trust me . just NSA and USAF.

 

[NoOneFamous]

In 83 I was 16 and living in Central PA (still do). I don't think there was anything worthwhile to catch a nuke, but down south is Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore and DC. North is NYC. We'd catch the fall out. When Dad was in the Navy, he told us kids, if there is warning that there are nukes coming, kiss your Mom good bye and go outside.

 

[crackpot]

Or a positive one that none of this happened and we are living full and productive lives in a relatively safe and secure society

True. I remember as a kid asking my dad what he would do if we found out the Russians launched their their nukes. His answer was something to the effect of ‘set up lawn chairs on the roof and have a drink.’

 

[Fleetlord]

Northwest Florida. No chance in hell.

 

[fscott]

You are correct, but my dad was a professional Dutch Airforce Sargent. 12th GGW mainbase was at Shöppingen, main Radar / nuke storage site (US controlled) etc.

Yeah that does make a big difference.

 

[unclepatrick]

I lived in Huntsville Alabama in 1983. Huntsville is the Home of the US Army Missile command on Redstone Arsenal. So it would have been a target for at least one missile. The house I lived in at the time did not have a basement. So my family would have been killed in the blast.

 

[Ward]

Were I lived in 1983 was down wind of Milwaukee, Grand Rapids which was #66 on the hit parade and west of Lansing Michigan . We would see the flash from the East and the flash from the west and bend over and kiss our ass good bye .

 

[SsgtC]

In 83 I was 16 and living in Central PA (still do). I don't think there was anything worthwhile to catch a nuke, but down south is Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore and DC. North is NYC. We'd catch the fall out. When Dad was in the Navy, he told us kids, if there is warning that there are nukes coming, kiss your Mom good bye and go outside.

That depends, how close are you to the PA coal mines? They might not be on the first strike list, but they're still a strategic resource

 

[Dr. No]

My hometown in Germany featured Pershing II rockets. Of course we would've been struck.