[redgolum]

I grew up 40 miles or so from SAC command at Omaha. At the time, it was one of the most heavily targeted areas on earth.

Since the sirens were also used for weather, our first instinct was to check the sky. My Dad also looked to the missile bases to see if they were lighting up.

Hard to explain to my wife what growing up like that was. She is just young enough that she doesn't remember much of the cold war. I can still pick up my piece of the Berlin Wall and remember it.

[Kenny Bunkport]

Hard to explain to my wife what growing up like that was.

I knew a guy who was an Air Force brat whose dad was stationed at Nellis AFB in NV. He was a kid when the US was still conducting above-ground tests of nuclear weapons north of Las Vegas. He said that even though a nuke test was highly classified, everyone living on the base knew when the next one was scheduled. His family, and all their neighbors, would get up and go outside in the middle of the night to watch the "bomb" go off. When it lit up, the neighborhood appeared as if it were mid-day. He said it was funny seeing all his neighbors in their nightclothes.

I told him, "Growing up watching nuclear bombs going off...That explains a lot about you." :-)