Good times. Terrifying times, but good for all that.
Good because we survived. I never really thought it would end any other way but with mushroom clouds and I lived within several miles of a multi target bulls eye. The rapidity and quiet in which it finally ended was really quite amazing. I don't think many people realize just how unlikely that was.
I thought pretty much the same thing if Im honest. I can recall about 1979 or so seeing my first nuclear attack siren, and feeling slightly freaked out about it. I was only about 6 at the time, and its not a pleasant feeling at that age to discover how vulnerable you are.
Im personally astonished we came through 1983 without a scratch (well, most of us). I bought that Able Archer sourcebook, and whilst you can download all the documents in it on NS archive, there is something just more accessible about them bound in a book. The worst about the whole thing is that we still dont really know what tipped off the USAF general that something odd was happening. He passed away before the historians were able to get to him, and like Stanislav Petrov, we probably owe him a debt that cant be repaid.
Cheers for that Evan, Ill look into it.
Edited by Stuart Galbraith, 14 February 2018 - 0301 AM.