One can suppose the Cold War actually began in earnest when the Soviet Union tested its own atomic bomb in 1949. Due to the rising Soviet threat, President Harry Truman, in 1951, created a new federal agency known as the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA). This agency was tasked with educating the public about the threat of communist attacks. (Alfassa, 2012)
The FCDA subsequently evolved into the Office of Defense and Civilian Mobilization, which had the responsibility …show more content…
They have fired no missiles; and their troops are seldom seen. They send arms, agitators, aid, technicians and propaganda to every troubled area.” (Kennedy, 1961)
President Kennedy went on to create two new federal agencies: the Office of Emergency Planning and Office of Civil Defense. (Alfassa, 2012) The Office of Emergency Planning was formed to address the risk of natural disasters. Civil Defense responsibilities, however, remained in the Office of Civil Defense within the Department of Defense.
The newly created Office of Civil Defense created several civil defense films that you can watch on YouTube, as follows:
Safety Measures in Public Shelters, 1963- this film outlined the duties of a public fallout shelter safety manager. Interestingly, it was also the safety manager’s responsibility to fight fires or tunnel out of a building in the event of a collapse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHDTEOrbaxU
To ensure that all emergency actions were based on accurate information a film called Facts Make the Difference, was released by The Office of Civil Defense in 1965. Thhis film examined effective ways to collect and act upon information from many sources.