CIVIL DEFENSE

Photo Courtesy: Bob Reding

Image courtesy: Platinum Building

CIVIL DEFENSE. For the history of Civil Defense in the United States, see: http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/history.html

At the height of the Cold War in 1952 Colonel John B.Logan, chief of civil air defense for the Central Air Defense Force and C. E Fowler, deputy director of the Iowa Civil Defense Administration, spoke to a small audience at an adult education forum at WASHINGTON JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL. He described a "main street in the world" between the 33 degree and 66 degree north latitude lines around the world. Of the 360 degrees around the world, 165 lay within the Soviet Union. He went on to claim that what the air force had done to protect this country was very small. In addition he said there were too few radar stations. Fowler explained the civil defense on the national, state, county and city levels. Carleton Sias, assistant chief of Dubuque's ground observation post, explained the duties and organization of the corps. An observer post was located on the roof of SUNNYCREST SANITARIUM. While unable to protect Dubuque, the observer would report any suspicious aircraft to Des Moines by telephone. Mrs. H. P. Lemper, county first aid chairman of the American Red Cross, explained the need for training citizens in first aid. Dr. A. G. Plankers, county medical director for civil defense, said his organization had inventoried hospital beds and cots, determined the capacity of buildings that could be used for emergency hospitals, and had a file of all medical personnel. Plans were underway to train medical personnel for specific injuries associated with bombings. Fire Chief Thomas Hickson, city director of civil defense, claimed the city was as ready as it ever would be. "Civil fense is something that people don't believe in. They just aren't scared enough. (1)

Preparations for Dubuque's participation in a nationwide 26-hour civil defense exercise on June 15-16, 1955 included the first use of the city's new $10,000 air raid sirens. The controls for the sirens were located at the telephone building. (2)

In 1957 Dubuque was not one of the cities "hit" by hypothetical atomic bombs during Operation Alert. This was fortunate because the city did not have a Civil Defense director or a working disaster plan.

In Operation Alert, Iowa Civil Defense headquarters in Des Moines received a call that enemy plane were sighted over Alaska. State headquarters phoned other cities in the state. At 11:15 a.m. sirens began blasting away and remained going for ten minutes. When it was learned that Dubuque was not "hit," the city was to assume a support role. City manager Laverne Schiltz opened a letter at 1:00 p.m. which told him of "Dubuque's fate." (3)

The 1961 Berlin Crisis and the Kennedy administration's reorganization of the national civil defense program led to an emphasis on a network of fallout shelter. While not designed to protect those inside against the blast itself, the shelters were meant to save lives during the following weeks with supplies of food and water. Soon after the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, the U. S. Office of Civil Defense (later renamed Defense Civil Preparedness Agency) began creating a network of shelters nationwide to protect people from radioactive fallout for a period of two weeks. Booklets were prepared showing individuals how to build shelters and what to do in case of nuclear attacks. In 1976 Robert P. GOOCH, the director of Dubuque County civil defense, remarked," There's no way of telling how many fallout shelters are still in Dubuque homes. A lot of people with means didn't want to be part of a public effort and picked up plans. I'm sure that a lot of these shelters are family rooms now." (4)

The first yellow-and-black civil defense fallout shelter signs were posted on December 5, 1962 on the doorways to official fallout shelters in Dubuque buildings. (5) The largest natural fallout shelter was located near Clayton, Iowa. Established in a silica mine, the shelter was stocked in 1963 with 500,000 pounds of supplies including 220,104 pounds of survival crackers, 154,000 gallons of water, and 881 medical kits. It was estimated that 44,016 people could be supplied for two weeks. The figure could be raised to 78,000 with a system of forced air ventilation. (6)

In 1966, the Iowa law allowing the civil defense department to plan for natural disasters as well s nuclear attack was passed. (7)

The Iowa Civil Defense Division began a program in April, 1967 to find an additional 2 million fallout shelter spaces in the state. While a group of fourteen women were interviewing homeowners in rural areas, citizens of Dubuque and large cities received questionnaires. Once these were returned an evaluated, the homeowner would receive a "protection factor" indicating how well the residents would be shielded after a nuclear attack. The reply would also indicated what part of the home would be the best for shelter. (8)

In 1968 Dubuque was one of the few towns in the Tri-State area to have a Civil Defense warning siren and a carefully planned warning system. The Dubuque weather bureau was responsible for contacting adjoining counties with disaster warnings and alerts through the Dubuque County sheriff's office. There was a county-wide system of spotters living within a five-mile radius of a community in Dubuque County with the responsibility of notifying their town's Civil Defense officials if they saw funnel clouds or other signs of bad weather. George Orr, the Iowa Civil Defense Director, stated that city officials were reluctant to spend the money on tornado warning systems. This was despite the fact that a city installing an system would receive half of the cost reimbursed by the federal government. (9)

In 1969 the fallout program championed in 1961 offered little. A study indicated that: (10)

      * 40% of the shelters were not marked
      * only 50% were stocked with food and water
      * many shelters had no trained manager
      * less than 2% of homeowners with suitable homes
        for shelters had written for plans to upgrade
      * rural areas typically had one shelter space for
        every four people

In 1973 a group of forty-five volunteers training, under the supervision of the DUBUQUE POLICE DEPARTMENT four hours each month, comprised the Dubuque Civil Defense Auxiliary Police. They were supplements to the police in emergencies such as traffic or crowd control. Other duties included patrolling the city in their own cars and reporting any suspicious activity. They paid for their own uniforms as well as the gasoline and oil used on patrol. They were not armed and did not play a role in arresting or questioning suspects. (11)

In 1976 about half of the tri-state's 438 public fallout shelters with 138 in Dubuque CVounty remained stocked with supplies. Food remained edible as long as the tins were kept dry and sealed. Some medical supplies including penicillin and nose and eye drops were removed because they had lost their potency. Bottles of phenobarbital, a depressant, were removed from all fallout shelters during the 'drug craze' of the 1960s. Public fallout shelters were inspected every two years, but a new plan was being promoted. Residents of high-risk cities were being evacuated to rural areas and small towns. People who had to use the shelters were asked to bring their own food. Grocery stores might also be taken over for supplies. (12)

In 1976 the largest shelter in Dubuque was the closed FARLEY AND LOETSCHER MANUFACTURING COMPANY building at 198 E. 7th St. It was estimated 6,380 people could use it for shelter. The second and third largest potential shelters was MERCY MEDICAL CENTER and the DUBUQUE PACKING COMPANY. (13)

See: GROUND OBSERVER CORPS

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Source:

1. "Civil Defense Lag Lamented," Telegraph Herald, March 6, 1952, p. 24

2. "Raid Sirens to Play Big Part in Test," Telegraph Herald, June 8, 1955, p. 2

3. "Alert 'Bombs' Miss Dubuque," Telegraph Herald, September 12, 1957, p. 1

4. Fyten, David. "Many Fallout Shelters in Tri-States Still Ready," Telegraph Herald, February 22, 1976, p 10

5. "Fallout Shelter Signs," Telegraph Herald, December 6, 1962, p. 16

6. "Mine Fallout Shelter Biggest in Tri-States," Telegraph Herald, June 9, 1963, p. 37

7. "Iowans Better Prepared for Natural Disaster," Telegraph Herald, May 31, 1972, p. 6

8. "Iowa Survey of Homes Begun to Find More Fallout Shelters," Telegraph Herald, April 3, 1967, p. 11

9. Hansen, Christine, "Disaster Warning Systems Lacking," Telegraph Herald, June 6, 1968, p. 16

10. "Civil Defense 'Falls Down' On Fallouts," Telegraph Herald, May 7 1969, p. 10

11. "Action Line," Telegraph Herald, March 21, 1973, p. 22

12. Fyten

13. Ibid.