Plan for Survival from the Civil Defense Network

Before the United States joined the Second World War it seemed as though the Isolationists might have a point. Sure, someday our boys might have to sail to Europe and help them pull their heads from whatever dark place it was that European Leaders put their heads, but for now there was an awfully big ocean between America and any possible troubles. Pearl Harbor changed everyone's mind about that. 

The need for a strong Civil Defense organization was hammered home by the so-called Battle of Los Angeles when the city's skies were lit up by antiaircraft batteries hammering away at shadows. The Office of Civilian Defense (OCD) had been established on May 20, 1941. The Japanese were, in fact, able to make attacks on the West Coast States, but these efforts proved extremely ineffective. However, the severity of atom bomb attacks from our Cold War adversaries in the Post War era kept Civil Defense at the forefront.

Like most elements of Modern Warfare, communication and Information Dissemination proved to be the most critical parts of Civil Defense. Planners soon discovered that radio broadcasts were one of their most effective tools. The most famous example is the CONELRAD System, initiated by President Eisenhower in December 1951. The episodes in this collection predate CONELRAD by a few months and are from the New York State Civil Defense Radio Network.

A Plan For Survival was a weekly broadcast filled with strategies for New Yorkers to get through an Atomic attack. The format is interviewing experts using questions mailed in by listeners. Despite the information being more than six decades old, many of the lessons still apply to a post-Cold War world. The programs are hosted by CBS reporter Bill Leonard who would go on to become President of CBS News. He and Bill Paley were the only CBS employees to have been allowed to stay on past mandatory retirement age.

• April 18, 1951, "Food and Water", 13th in the series. The program emphasizes the need to have an emergency supply of two-to-three days' worth of food on your shelves, given that the authorities should be able to begin food distribution in that much time after an emergency. However, it is emphasized that hoarding supplies are not a good idea because it may contribute to economic inflation.
• April 25, 1951, "Firefighting", 14th in the series. The blast from an atom bomb will likely result in a major conflagration, and first responders may not be in a position to deal with smaller blazes before they also become major emergencies. Citizens can be of aid by minimizing fire danger and being prepared to deal with small fires as they break out.
• June 20, 1951, "Civil Defense in New York State", 22nd in the series. Governor Thomas E. Dewey addresses the citizens of New York, pointing out that the World is far from being at peace and that New York could easily become a target of the "fourteen evil men in Moscow".
• September 26, 1951, "The Battle of Britain", 36th in the series. The episode is prepared by WGR Buffalo and compares the Blitz in London to the need for Civil Preparedness in the USA.

See also "Atomic Radio" and :

• Atomic Radio Collection
• Civil Defense Collection
• Face to the Future
• Fifth Horseman
• Living in an Atomic Age
  
• The Quick and the Dead
• Stars for Defense
• This is Civil Defense
• World Security Workshop