CLASS YOU'RE WATCHING WAVY NEWS
10 AT 6:00.
ANITA:
RECENT THREAT FROM NORTH
KOREA INCLUDING A MISSILE LAUNCH
JUST THIS AFTERNOON HAVE BROUGHT
MEMORIES OF A DIFFERENT ERA.
TOM: THE CONVERSATION TURNED
AGAINST DEFENDING AGAINST THE
INDEFENSIBLE.
HAMPTON ROADS WAS ONCE
SURROUNDED BY EIGHT MISSILE
BATTERIES, OTHERS NOT FAR FROM
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
TONIGHT, A TRIP THROUGH TIME
WHAT IS LEFT OF OUR COLD WAR
DEFENSE.
A PICKUP BASKETBALL GAME AT GOES
THROUGH NIKE PARK IN ISLE OF
WIGHT COUNTY, WHERE HARMLESS
PLAY MASKS WHAT LIES BENEATH THE
SURFACE.
MILITARY AUTHORITIES HAVE
ADVISED US THAT AN ENEMY ATTACK
BY AIR IS IMMINENT.
THE HISTORY STEEPED IN FEAR
AND MISTRUST BETWEEN
SUPERPOWERS.
BEHIND THIS DOOR AND DOWN THE
STEPS, WE SEE SHADOWS OF A
DIFFERENT WORLD.
I WOULD SAY WE PROBABLY
SHOULD NOT GO ANY FURTHER.
IN THE 1950'S AND EARLY
1960'S, NIKE MISSILE BATTERIES
STOOD WATCH OVER HAMPTON ROADS.
THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN THE
POSITION THEY WOULD ACTUALLY ARE
THE MISSILES FROM.
FIVE YEARS AGO THE COUNTY
PUMPED WATER OUT OF THE OLD
MAGAZINE, REVEALING A DARK
UNDERWORLD OF COLD WAR POLITICS.
SINCE THEN, 20 FEET OF WATER
REFILL THOSE CAVITIES.
THEY HIDE A PAST OFTEN VIEWED IN
BLACK AND WHITE.
EVEN COMEDY TOOK AN APOCALYPTIC
TONE.
ON A MORE SERIOUS NOTE, CIVIL
DEFENSE, WHERE EVERYONE NEEDED A
PURPOSE AND A COOL HEAD.
AT LEAST HERE AT HAMPTON
ROADS YOU DO NOT WANT TO PANIC
THE POPULATION BECAUSE WHEREVER
THE PEOPLE GO?
YOU MIGHT HAVE GONE TO THE
BASEMENT OF THE OLD BANK OF
SMITHFIELD.
A FALLOUT SHELTER IN THE 1950'S.
NOW A TIME CAPSULE OF THE COLD
WAR AT ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY
MUSEUM.
A LOT OF US DID REALIZE THAT
THE BOMB SHELTERS YOU COULD
PROVIDE FOR YOURSELF AT HOME
REALLY DID NOT PROVIDE A LOT OF
SECURITY SYSTEMS.
BUT THEY DID PROVIDE CAN FOOD
AND WATER, GOVERNMENT DANIEL'S
OWN SURVIVAL, EVEN GASP HALF FOR
CHILDREN, BECAUSE THE NUCLEAR
AGE WAS UPON US, AND HAMPTON
ROADS WAS A TARGET.
VERY SCARY
TIME.
WERE SO CLOSE TO WHAT
WOULD'VE BEEN GROUND ZERO, THE
CIVIL DEFENSE FOLKS GAVE US OF
-- GAME US UP FOR BEING WIPED
OUT ANYWAY.
A GLIMPSE OF THE LAST LINE OF
DEFENSE IN HAMPTON, ABANDONED
FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS, A
DISTANT MEMORY FOR IRAQ AFTER.
I HAVE -- FOUR
IRA ABBOTT.
HE WAS IN CHARGE OF
THE
MISSILES IN FOUR OF THE EIGHT
LOCAL BATTERIES, INCLUDING THIS
ONE.
NO MISSILE EVER FIRED FROM THESE
BATTERIES, BUT ONE DAY, ABBOTT
SAYS AN AIR FORCE PLANE FAILED
TO IDENTIFY ITSELF, AND THE
OFFICER IN CHARGE CAME TO A
DECISION.
WHAT FINALLY SAVED IT?
THE AIR
FORCE IDENTIFIED HIM,
SO EVERYTHING WENT BACK TO
NORMAL.
AND MORE THAN 50 YEARS LATER,
PLACES LIKE NIKE PARK TAKE US
BACK TO THAT DARK TIME.
OF FUTURE GENERATIONS DON'T
FORGET HOW CLOSE WE CAME UNDER
THE CONCEPT OF MUTUAL ASSURED
DISTRACTION TO VIRTUALLY GETTING
WIPED OUT.
THAT'S WHY THE STORY NEEDS TO BE
TOLD.
SO MAYBE WE WOULD NOT EVER
COME CLOSE AGAIN.
ALBERT TOLD ME IT WAS ASSUMED
THE SOVIETS HAD ONE OF THEIR
LARGEST MISSILES AIMED AT THE
MILITARY TARGETS AND HAMPTON
ROADS, BECAUSE THAT WAY IN HIS
WORDS, THEY WOULD GET
EVERYTHING.