With the recent release of the hit movie “Oppenheimer,” many older Alle-Kiski Valley residents are reflecting on life in the 1950s and ’60s during the Cold War and the threat of nuclear attack.

The term Cold War was invented by English writer George Orwell for an article in the Tribune, a British newspaper, titled “You and the Atomic Bomb.”

Orwell is the pen name for Eric Arthur Blair who is best known for his novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four.”

The “Cold War” period ran from 1947 to 1991 and was a period of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. Of particular concern was the buildup of nuclear weapons on both sides, known as the nuclear arms race.

In the early days of the Cold War, the delivery system for these weapons was large strategic bombers. There was a high likelihood of interception of these using anti-aircraft systems and fighters.

However, with the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles in the late 1950s, everything changed. The time for which these missiles could be intercepted became smaller, making the task much more difficult.

Before 1951, there was no systematic way for the U.S. government to communicate with citizens during an emergency. With the possibility of a nuclear attack seemingly always looming, the government needed to develop a system to communicate with its citizens on both national and local levels in times of emergency.

Harry Truman established Conelrad for this purpose in 1951. Conelrad was an acronym for the “Control of Electromagnetic Radiation.”

Under this system, a few major radio stations would be alerted of an emergency and would broadcast the alert. All broadcasting stations throughout the country were required to constantly listen to these primary stations and repeat the message, thereby passing the warning message across the entire country.

The message directed all citizens to tune their AM radios to either 6:40kHz or 12:40kHz, where they would receive instructions during the emergency. The radios produced during that time had these Conelrad stations clearly marked on their dials.

There was concern that incoming missiles could use the radio frequencies of the stations in the larger cities to direct their guidance systems. So only the two emergency frequencies were to be used in the event of an attack.

Special air raid sirens were installed in communities, and regular drills were conducted throughout the country.

In schools, children who lived nearby were sent home to their families. Those who lived farther away took cover in the schools.

The students were directed to hide under their desk in a kneeling position with their heads between their knees and their hands clasped behind their neck. The term used was “duck and cover.”

They were directed to, if possible, take cover in the hallways or the basement and away from any windows. Practice drills were done. Films on how to do these drills were provided.

Buildings in the communities were examined to determine which were most likely to survive an atomic attack and would be the best choice as fallout shelters.

In this area, a bridge engineering firm, Richardson Gordon and Associates in Pittsburgh, conducted the surveys.

Roy Stitt, an engineer from the Edgecliff Road area of Lower Burrell, was in charge of the program. There was a yellow metal sign affixed to the buildings that were chosen as shelters.

Many of these sites were stocked with emergency supplies, such as blankets, water, dried food and Geiger counters, to provide for the survivors of an attack. Mimi Derbaum Kelly, a teacher at Martin School in New Kensington, recalled that storage rooms in the school’s basement were opened years later and still housed the supplies.

Sister Honora, who taught at St. Joseph High School in Natrona in the 1960s, said she demonstrated the use of Geiger counters to her students.

There also were nighttime drills. After the sirens were sounded, people were to turn out their lights or have blackout curtains drawn so enemy aircraft could not identify targets by sight.

There were wardens who walked through the communities to verify that all homes and businesses complied with the directive.

Charles Stapinski, who grew up in New Kensington, said he saw the wardens walking along the streets checking to see that homeowners were in compliance.

President John F. Kennedy encouraged the construction of home fallout shelters in 1961. There were plans provided by the government for their construction.

The Office of Civil Defense was created in 1941 to coordinate civilian defense efforts. It was run by the Department of the Army.

Since the end of the Cold War, civil defense has evolved into comprehensive emergency management. The focus today is on natural disasters and terrorism, led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.

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