I’ve been thinking a lot about the Cold War lately, what with all the news about the possible ties of 45 to Russia. I was a child of a Cold Warrior — my father was a combat pilot who flew F-86s in Korea (very much a hot interval in the Cold War) and KC-97s (tankers) in the 1960s. In fact, he was one of the guys circling endlessly above Alaska during the Cuban Missile Crisis, ready to give all the fuel in his plane to bombers who would head out over Russia to their targets.
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a very bad time. My parents were very careful not to let me or my brother know how serious it was — or that Daddy might not come back. But the stress had ripples for many years. Frankly, I don’t think my mother ever recovered. I guess once one’s anxiety has gone to that extreme, it changes things.
Not long after that worldwide brush with doomsday, we moved to a big SAC base in Newfoundland, Ernest Harmon AFB. We were there for quite awhile — I went from 1st through 4th grade there. My dad was still flying KC-97s at Harmon and was an operations officer. I have memories of going to the Operations Headquarters building and seeing the big maps on the wall with colored lines crossing the earth. I was just a little girl and didn’t know what they meant. However, the reality of the dangerous nature of Daddy’s work did sort of hit home when the father of a schoolmate died flying a plane that had last been flown by my father. It was a risky business — and every one of those pilots was ready to go out on a mission, should the whistle ever blow, from which they would likely never return. They lived with that uncertainty, everyday.
I am sure that my father, a patriot to the core and a life-long Republican, must be spinning rapidly in his grave now. What have we come to?
Today, I’ve been trying to learn a bit more about those days and have found a different sort of resource. There is a top-rated board game, Twilight Struggle, that recreates the forty-some years of the Cold War through a series of cards relating to the events during that time. It’s a fascinating game for two players that takes several hours to play it through. Some call it Risk for grownups. I haven’t actually played the tabletop game yet — however, there is an app that is a very good digital version of the game. And let me tell you, it is freakin’ hard, playing through it, to keep the world from going up in a mushroom cloud. It has given me a greater appreciation for the people who managed to steer us clear of doomsday through all the years of the Cold War. We should be grateful we are still here. Things could have gone another way.
The Berlin Wall did finally fall and the Cold War did finally end. We had a peace dividend for a brief time. However, the Military Industrial Complex, always a survivor, managed to stay gainfully employed — and then 9/11 happened. It remains a dangerous world. Through a bizarre twist of events, we now have self-involved person in the White House who does not seem to have any grasp of or interest in the complexities of the world and who displays a very cavalier and capricious (dare I say bullying?) way of wielding power. He also would appear to be caught in a devious web spun by an old enemy. God help us all.
But let not my musings ruin your weekend — which starts today! I don’t know about you but it is a lovely day here in Portlandia. Please come in, share your day, your weekend plans, your menus. And if you have any memories of the days of duck-and-cover, share those, too! This is an open thread.
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by and tell us about your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper. Newcomers may notice that many who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well. |
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