If you should ever happen to have the misfortune to see this falling from the sky, you are going to have a bad day. This is a picture of a Mark 17/24 thermonuclear hydrogen device. It’s explosive force was around 15 mega-tons of TNT which is 1000 timew as powerful as that dropped on Hiroshima. The purpose of the parachute is to slow the descent to give the plane a chance to get away before the explosion. Fortunately the cold war has long since passed and no nuclear conflicts occurred. I am confident that civilization would have been thrown back into the stone age and the Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome style of civilization would have become a reality. For one, I like my electricity, going shopping at the mall, and all of the other perks of our modern way of life. I happened to see an old newsreel clip of president Kennedy giving a news conference during the height of the Cuban missile crisis. He said that any attack on the western hemisphere would be considered an attack on the United States resulting in a full retaliatory strike against Russia. I wonder if by “a full retaliatory strike” meant emptying our missile silos? That would have definitely resulted in a nuclear holocaust. I was attending the University of Miami at the time of the Cuban missile crisis and the college campus seemed abandoned as parents around the country recalled their children home. Of course, since I lived in Miami at the time, there was no place for me to go but Miami. But then, why would anyone launch a missile onto a tourist spot with nothing but palm trees and sandy beaches. So I felt relatively safe. I was in the air force reserve officers training corps at the time and got to see the air force base south of Miami which was loaded with planes and armaments. I think that president Kennedy meant business, but thankfully we never found out.
Pardon the pun, but have a “bang-up” day. And try to stay warm with a nice warm cup of Boscoe chocolate drink. (As a child I hated the taste of that stuff and refuse to even try it as an adult.) Behave and be good because Christmas is coming once again in 350 days. (Credit card bills in 350 + 30 days.) Lew
1 comment:
Do you think a kid would understand the concept of war? When I went to get blood drawn, the little girl who came in dressed in pink looking proper, until she was lead into the room where she screamed her head off. It sounded like she was suffering greatly, the agony was the greatest pain in the world. War was a not even mentioned compared to the killer needle approaching her arm."No, I want to go home" she yelled. The little girl left with swelled eyes and ruffled up outfit trailing her mom who wasn't speaking to her. She didn't get the needle and the war of the needle went away.
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