Response to Nuclear War

Govt. Response: "Confidence is high, this is not an exercise," Aboard the E-6 MERCURY (TACAMO) airborne command center: "Major Reynolds, we have reports of a major attack on the US at this time, numerous ICBMs"......"roger confirm" he tells the ground tracking commander at Beale AFB and then turns to the major and says, ".... 300 missiles in bound at this time!".

Strategic bombers are scrambled, EAMs issued to Ohio Class nuclear subs, minute-man silos are given launch orders, President conducts war conference, activates nuclear 'football, and issues retaliation order, then high tails to nearest airborne command center.

Radio station broadcasts are interrupted: "This is the EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM, for those of you in transit in the Kansas City area [insert your own city if its over 250,000], the Federal Emergency Management Agency advises you to proceed to this nearest shelter. While you are in no danger, FEMA would like to go over the steps to take in the event of a probable attack...."

result: panic in the streets, run on the gas stations and grocery markets, ATMS machines fail, cell phones fail, stores only take cash, some rioting and violence begins and bumper to bumper traffic on all freeways leading out of town...that's the public's reaction.

The television stations interrupt their broadcast with unconfirmed reports of low yield kiloton nuclear bombs airburst over advancing Soviet troops in the Fulda Gap, Germany.

more panic...and chaos as people stream to the shelters and roads out of town.

Another news bulletin from national network "...unconfirmed reports of a low yield nuclear explosion at NATO regional headquarters in..." the TV goes dead.

It's no use, an air burst explodes like a sun, with the EMP knocking out all electrical circuits in a 150-mile radius. Soon after are the 500 kiloton explosions vaporizing everything at ground zero.

In thirty minutes 1.1 billion souls are lost in the northern hemisphere, mostly in the US, Russia, Europe, China and Japan; another 1 billion will die soon after from radioactive fallout, the northern hemisphere is plunged into prolonged agony and barbarism. Soon after, the nuclear winter catches up to the southern hemisphere and all plant and animal life eventually die off.

This is why nuclear wars are MAD.... we've been 28 minutes away from a nuclear launch at any given time...

(scenes recreated from the movie: "The Day After."

Books on Nuclear War