DUSTING OFF MEMORIES 5 DECADES OLD

Former talk show host and RI Radio Hall of Fame member Mary Ann Sorrentino had an op-ed piece in Sunday's Pro-Jo that brought back some memories for me. Entitled THIS 1962 RERUN STILL TERRIFIES, Sorrentino's piece describes living through the terror filled tension during the Cuban Missile crisis as a student in her Elmira, New York dorm room. She tells of watching President John F. Kennedy on a fuzzy black and white 22 inch TV making it clear we were at the tipping point of a nuclear confrontation. Mary Ann has a few years on me, but I remember the 3rd grade  Sisters of Mercy at St. Raymond's School ( I always found the term "Sisters of Mercy" to be an oxymoron after watching them slap unruly 8 year olds across the face with an open hand) showing us black and white films of nuclear destruction then suggesting in the event of an attack we could find safety under our desks. Even in the 3rd grade I questioned how a 3 inch thick piece of wood would keep me safe from the destruction I just saw projected on a screen...but I wasn't about to voice that aloud while Sister Brendan was wielding a three foot pointer. As the war of words amps up between the U-S and North Korea, I harken back to those visuals projected by a rickety projector and relive the fears of 50-years ago.


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