Acting as the head of the family in my 1960’s home is presenting me with challenges new to the role. My own father was responsible for only providing for the family and establishing a secure, working morality within the home. I must do this, but I also face a shadow other generations did not confront.

The government has made it clear, and for some time, that the Soviet Union is our enemy and would like to destroy us, as we are the greatest representative of everything they do not believe in. No real war is going on, but this “cold war” is, in some ways, worse. My family is afraid, every day. We hear stories on the news about the atomic bomb and how even one could wipe out a huge part of the country.  We are also given reason to believe that the Soviets have many of these bombs at the ready: “As the cold war grew more perilous, so too did the ominous presence of the atomic bomb…with analysts projecting that Soviet stockpiling of 10, 50, 100 atomic bombs could devastate American cities…” (Paterson, et al., p. 258).

How do I protect my family when the threat is never directly in front of us? “In this total war, the traditional distinction between soldiers and civilians, or noncombatants, had evaporated” (Findling, Thackeray, 2011, p. 116). I know that my children’s schools are running drills, in case of a bomb attack, but I do not see how herding the children into any above-ground area is going to save them. Atomic weapons, from everything I have heard from television and my neighbors, carry a power unlike any other bomb. Like my neighbors, I must develop a plan to keep my family safe, and we cannot count on the government to be there, when the government itself does not know how to prepare for such an attack.

To that end, then, I have sat my family down for a serious discussion. The most important thing for them to understand is that, upon the first word of a possible attack coming, they are to get home immediately. I give my children permission to defy school orders; I want them out of that public space and in the house as soon as they can get here. They also understand that I am not talking about idle rumors. I believe they will know by the urgency of the message when things may be serious, and they are not to hesitate.

My neighbors are erecting bomb shelters, both above and below ground. I have studied the problem and it seems to me that our basement, encased in concrete, will serve us well as a shelter. There are two entrances, and I have already sealed the outside one, both locking it from inside and placing iron bars over the doors, which are on an angle above the ground. I have padlocked these doors.

Then, over time, my family and  have set up the space to accommodate a long stay. We have stockpiled can goods and bottled water, set up cots, and created as much of a private bathroom space as can be managed, since it is likely we will have no water service. It is not ideal, but I believe this setting can keep my family safe for months, should the Soviets choose to attack.