Living (and Preaching) the Sheltered Life

Stick Family under a roof

One organization’s approach to bomb shelters, community relations and longevity. By:  Sharon Packer If you’re concerned about civil defense and want to promote bomb shelters, here are some suggestions from Civil Defense Volunteers of Utah, now starting its 11th year of community service.  (Originally published in 1997.  The Utah Civil Defense Volunteers group is still…

Read More

Civil Defense Abroad

From the “Journal Archives” …..Journal of Civil Defense, Jan-Feb 1978 Reports and repercussions of the 1977 American “Civil Defense Debate” are appearing in foreign publications. In Great Britain, The Journal of the Institute of Civil Defense digs into Congressional hearings and says: One Republican, Congressman William Whitehurst, also argued that it would be criminal to…

Read More

Pragmatic Civil Defense

By W. E. Manry, Jr., M.D . Published in the Journal of Civil Defense; October 1987 (Dr. W. E. “Bill” Manry looks at American civil defense without the soporific “benefits” of apathy, wishful thinking and procrastination. This leads him to some shocking conclusions about the fate of his fellowman when the nuclear chips are down.…

Read More

Kennedy on Civil Defense

A man in suit and tie at podium with microphones.

The following is a letter from President John F. Kennedy to the members of Congress and read by Stewart Pittman October 6, 1961 Gentlemen: I was gratified to learn of the productive meeting of the Committee on Civil Defense of the Governors Conference on September 17 in the Pentagon. The basis was well laid for…

Read More

A safe-room tip!

A series of photographs showing the inside of an underground facility.

Hi. James here. I have a question for you: I am in the beginning process of building a barn with a small 16 x 12 safe room in the basement. The walls will be poured concrete, 12″ thick and I faced with 9″ of stone. The ceiling is an 8″ slab. I was hoping that…

Read More

History of the 1960s Fallout Shelter Program

In response to an inquiry by Michael McFall, reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune By Paul Seyfried The National Facility Survey, done in the 1960s, reveals a valuable history of fallout shelters. President Kennedy was a strong advocate of a national shelter program, much like Switzerland’s shelter program is today. His shelter program was modeled…

Read More

Fallout Shelters

TACDA received the following email from a concerned citizen: Hello, Due to heightened world tensions I recently contacted Emergency Services here in Lane County Oregon to see if we had any public fallout shelters near my town of Florence. I was surprised to discover the public shelter program no longer exists. They didn’t even know…

Read More

Location, Location, Location!

By Paul Seyfried and Sharon Packer (www.utahsheltersystems.com) Tips to know when starting your fallout shelter … Choose your underground (UG) site carefully.?? The first attribute for a good shelter location is an area with a low water table- that is, an area where you can dig a trench 18 to 20 feet deep without hitting…

Read More