Forrest Aikens was born in 1895 to Seth
and Alice Aikens of Barnard, Vermont. He went to school in the
Village School in Barnard for his primary grades, and then went to
Whitcomb High School in Bethel. He served in the army in World War I
but did not go overseas. Forrest was a traveling salesman, and was
the executive secretary of the Vermont Grocer's Association for 15
years during the 1950's and 60's, thus it is probably safe to assume
that he was a grocery salesman. He was also the Food Consultant for
the Vermont Civil Defense during the 1950's.
Although the 1950's has the reputation
of being an era of innocence, in many ways it was an era of anxiety
and fear. The United States ended World War II by dropping atomic
bombs on the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan. The Americans
knew that the atomic bomb was the most powerful weapon the world had
ever known, capable of creating mass destruction and casualties, but
the reality of suffering and wreakage unleashed by these weapons was
more terrible than the theoretical damage the American military knew
these bombs were capable of. America was well aware of how
destructive and deadly an atom bomb was. When, in 1949, four years
after we used the atomic bombs on Japan, Russia detonated an atomic
bomb of its own, Americans became sure that the Russians would use
the bomb to attack our country.
Although Russia was our ally against
the Germans and Japanese in World War II, ideological differences
between their Communist government and our Democratic government
created economic, cultural and military tension between the United
States and the Soviet Union. Every so often, these tensions
threatened to boil over into military attacks. Historians call this
era of international tension “The Cold War”, to indicate a
supposed lack of real military engagement. I have never understood
the theory behind the term “Cold War”. Although the United
States didn't get into a direct military conflict with Russia, we did
get involved in two conflicts with Communist governments in Korea and
Vietnam.
Fear of nuclear attack led the
American government to promote Civil Defense Leagues throughout the
nation. President Harry Truman created the Federal Civil Defense
Administration in December of 1950. The main purpose of this agency
was to publish and distribute educational material to Civil Defense
Leagues at the state and local levels. The Civil Defense
Administration was clear that if the Soviet Union did attack, the
American military would be too busy fighting the enemy to come to the
aid of the ordinary citizen. The idea was that if Americans were
prepared and knew what to do to keep themselves safe in case of a
nuclear attack, everyone would get through it better than the
Japanese, who didn't know what was coming.
During World War II, many women had
worked outside the home to fill roles in businesses and industry
vacated by the men who fought the war. When the men came home from
the war and returned to their jobs, the women were encouraged to
return to their domestic duties as wives and mothers. The Cold War
Museum's website tells us that,
“In order for civil defense to
succeed on the national level, millions of Americans
would have to take the lead in
organizing local operations. Women, viewed by many
as homemakers with free time to
spare, soon became the target of a massive civil
defense recruiting campaign by the
federal government.faced with widespread
apathy and doubt about the
practicality of civil defense (both in the general public
and by many politicians), the FCDA
hoped women’s 'inherent' abilities of persuasion
would help convince the public of the
necessity of the program. Utilizing traditional
gender stereotypes that portrayed
women as mothers and nurturers, the federal
government implored women to join
civil defense not only to save the country,
but their families as well. In short,
civil defense became a family affair.
Even in Vermont, people took the
looming nuclear attack seriously. The FCDA had a map listing primary
and secondary possible targets, and Montpelier was listed as a
secondary target, the only one in Vermont. With my healthy 2014
skepticism, I view that as an attempt on the part of Washington to
include Vermont in what was happening nationally, and, for lack of
any other sensible targets, identifying the capital makes sense.
Really, the Soviet Union was about to attack Montpelier?
Regardless, people in Montpelier began
to plan for possible nuclear attack, and true to what the Cold War
Museum tells us, the women were the most actively involved. The
Vermont Historical Society in Barre has three full file folders full
of Civil Defense documents, donated by the family of Jean Balham.
Mrs. Balham was a Civil Defense leader in Montpelier, In charge of
holding meetings and instructing the ladies of the city how to
prepare for nuclear disaster. She gave presentations at church
women's groups and civic organizations throughout the Montpelier.
Mrs Baham's Civil Defense Leader
curriculum explains that Civil Defense is a way of saving lives and
property in case of atomic, biological or chemical attack. The
curriculum outlines how to set up an air raid shelter, which could be
your basement. Women were instructed to turn off all heaters and
furnaces, which could be a fire hazard in case of explosions, and all
fans and blowers, which could move contaminated air into the shelter.
Closing all doors and covering windows would prevent radiation from
entering the shelter from the outside. There was information on how
to locate and rescue family members who may be trapped under a
demolished building, and how to move them safely. The packets gave
instructions on setting up a first aid kit. Various pamphlets in the
folders suggested having three days worth of food and water, other
pamphlets suggested the necessity of having seven days food and
water, yet others suggested a full three weeks worth of provisions.
The packets explained what fallout is.
I have spent my whole life hearing about fallout, without really
knowing what it is. When a nuclear bomb is dropped, the energy from
the blast pulverizes anything underneath it. Hot air rises, and the
air around the detonated bomb is so incredibly hot it rises super
fast, causing immense suction that pulls all this pulverized matter
up with it, creating what we know
as “The Mushroom Cloud”. What
goes up must come down, and when the air containing the pulverized
stuff, now contaminated with radiation from the bomb's fuel, cools
off, the stuff falls back to the ground in the form of dust –
fallout. The closer you are to the center of the bomb site, the more
dangerous and toxic the fallout is. Pre 9/11, I was familiar with the
center of the bomb being referred to as “Ground Zero”, but the
Civil Defense material doesn't use this term.
The material explains that the main
characteristics of an atomic bomb are the initial blast, and then
intense heat. It stated that if you were present at the center of
where the bomb was dropped, you would not survive. I found it
strangely comforting that the government didn't try to tell people
that they could survive being directly hit by a nuclear bomb. The
farther you are from the center of the blast, the more likely you
are to survive, with that likelihood increases if you are in a bomb
shelter that is underground and built with concrete walls. In your
bomb shelter, you should be sure that you have a battery-powered
radio, tuned to AM 640 or 1240, the CONELRAD frequencies. CONELRAD
was short for CONtrol of ELectromagnetic RADiation, and that was the
name of the government broadcasting system that would inform the
public in case of nuclear attack. As concerns about an attack
lessened in the late 60's, CONELRAD became the Emergency Broadcast
System, which we still have today.
There was no information about
radiation sickness, which is what happens to you when you are
directly exposed to the radiation of a nuclear bomb. However, there was a note in the folder, which I assume was typed by Mrs Balham,
outlining the affects of radiation poisoning.
“Radiation destroys white blood
cells, destroying the body's ability to combat bacteria.
Vomiting starts within a few hours up
to one day. You may have a feeling of lassitude,
and long bleeding from trivial cuts or
from your gums. You can also lose your hair.
Of
course, nerves could cause some of these symptoms. Radiation
sickness can be helped with blood plasma, complete rest, antibiotics
and ordinary
sanitary measures.”
I
found it amusing that she thought that the symptoms of radiation
poisoning, after a nuclear attack, could be just nerves. Throughout
my whole childhood, any time I was sick, that was my mother's
favorite line. I could have had a 104ยบ
fever accompanied by projectile vomiting and convulsions, and my
mother would have told me it was “just nerves”.
Much of the rest of the
information in Mrs. Ballard's files addressed food safety. This is
where Forrest Aikens would have been involved. Each state had a
Civil Defense Food Consultant to the State Department of Agriculture,
to tell state officials what to do to keep the state's food supply
safe in the even of a nuclear attack. The Civil Defense leaders also
knew all about what food and drink was safe and unsafe as well.
Any food or water that was
covered was safe. Water from wells was safe, although water from
ponds or other open bodies would be contaminated. Presumably this
assumes that you were a distance from the center of the bomb, because
I cannot imagine that the water near the bomb site would be safe,
even if it was from a well underground. The material said that you
should wipe all containers free of dust, then bury the cloths because
they will be “hot” or contaminated. Get rid of anything that is
open.
There was a pamphlet in the
folder called “Defense Against Radioactive Fallout on the Farm”.
This would be another area of concern for Forrest. The pamphlet said
that radiation lasts a long time in the soil, without giving
specifics, because, the government didn't really know just how long
that radiation did last. If a farm was near the center of the
bombsite, it would have to be abandoned indefinitely.
Fallout would be the concern of
farmers who were somewhat removed from the bombsite. Again, there
were no firm distances given because no one really knew for sure what
was a safe distance from the blast. Livestock that was in the barn
was fairly safe from contamination, but the meat from livestock that
was outside could not be eaten because it would be contaminated with
radiation, and the eggs or milk from contaminated chickens or cows
could not be consumed. Feed that was covered, like silage in a silo,
was safe to feed livestock, but feed left outside was not. Forage
from contaminated soil would be unsafe. Eggs that had been laid by
chickens that weren't contaminated would be safe to eat, if they were
washed off first, because the egg's shell would protect the inside of
the egg from contamination.
For fruits and vegetables,
tubers like carrots and potatoes come into contact with the top of
the soil when they are pulled up and should be washed carefully
before they are eaten. Thick skinned fruit is okay, but you should
wash it before you eat it. The pamphlets repeatedly stressed the
necessity of wearing rubber gloves when handling any of these fruits
or vegetables. Peas or shell beans could be eaten because their outer
coverings protected the insides, but string beans would be
contaminated. Corn would be okay because the shucks would protect the
cobs, but it should be washed anyway as a preventative measure.
I spent a fair amount of time at
the Vermont Historical Society reading all of this material. It
brought home to me how seriously people took the threat of a nuclear
attack. One of the presentations in the curriculum, from the 1959
Civil Defense Leader's Handbook, involved a skit featuring a mother,
a grandmother, a father and two kids. This skit was supposed to show
how to conduct a family meeting featuring a discussion of how to set
up a fallout shelter and conduct family disaster drills. The skit
starts with the mother sending a little tyke to bed, calling Grandma
to the table, and telling the son to tell his father it's time for
family meeting. It was news to me that families had family meetings
in the 50's. Anyway, Dad says to the son, “Tell your mother I'm
watching TV.” Mom answers by saying, “No, no, this is really
important, our lives could depend on being prepared.” The more
things change the more they stay the same.
Included in the files is a
letter, dated March 27, 1959 to Jean Balham from one of the heads of
the Vermont Civil Defense Commission, a woman. The letter mentions
that the United Methodist Church and the Seventh Day Adventist church
had requested information about food safety in a nuclear attack.
This tells us that average people were thinking about these issues.
It also includes the price list for dosimeters that Mrs. Balham had
requested. Dosimeters measured an individual's exposure to radiation.
The letter was signed “Yours for Civil Defense”.
left: dosimeter and charger
It seems unreal to me that
people in Vermont were actually convinced that Russia was going to
attack here. Equally ridiculous – the thought that if it did
happen, washing your fruit and vegetables would make everything all
better. In 2014, I sometimes think about a terrorist attack on the
power grid and am glad for my wood heat, the water that comes from
our spring, and the fact that my husband can hunt for food.
If you are interested in looking
at one of the Civil Defense Leader's Manuals, here is a link:
