Cold War Headlines - January 23-30 - 1946 - 1951 - 1968 - 1973 - 1982 - 1990; Plus Cold War in Entertainment

1946 - President Truman's State of the Union Address makes him the first Cold Warrior president. His speech titled "From War to Peace - The Year of Decision" includes passages laying the groundwork for what would be eventually known as the Cold War. Under the section of international affairs this sentence stands out - "Simply to name all the international meetings and conferences is to suggest the size and complexity of the undertaking to prevent international war in which the United States has now enlisted for the duration of history.". Could this have been a subtle reference to the coming Cold War with the communist? Further on there is a reference to the USSR and China, and then a distinct commitment to ensure that Korea becomes free - "It is the purpose of the Government of the United States to proceed as rapidly as is practicable toward the restoration of the sovereignty of Korea and the establishment of a democratic government by the free choice of the people of Korea.". Less than five years later we were in a shooting war in Korea. The first hot proxy war in the wider Cold War. The full text of the speech is available here: From War to Peace - The Year of Decision

President Truman & George C. Marshall (who would later head the Marshall Plan 1948)

1951 Nuclear Test at Frenchman Flats Nevada - There were two test this week in 1951, January 27 & 28. The first atmospheric nuclear test took place on Area 5. The one-kiloton device called Able was dropped from an Air Force B-50 bomber. The second, the next day, was called Baker was an eight-kiloton bomb also dropped from a B-50 bomber. They were the 4th and 5th airdropped devices since the start of the program (including Hiroshima and Nagasaki). The history of the Nevada test site is available here: Nevada Test Site Guide

Photo of "Able" Atom Bomb Blast

January 23, 1968  USS Pueblo Seized by North Korea - I was just 14, and saw the news report on the evening news but didn't think much about it. Never even thought that someday I'd be blogging on the event. And, who in the world would believe that 51 years later, the USS Pueblo would be in the news still with the current negotiations to de-nuc the Korean Peninsula?! It would be great if the USA negotiators made the return of the ship a condition of whatever deal is eventually agreed upon. You can read the History.com article here: USS Pueblo Seized

Artist Rendition of Attack

USS Pueblo - Today in NOKO

January 23, 1973 - Nixon Announces Peace Settlement - I was stationed aboard the USS Farragut when this news hit. I was a few months away from getting married and my future wife was worried that the ship had another turn in the Tonkin Gulf coming up. It was not scheduled but other ships in Newport R.I., and the Farragut itself, prior to my assignment, had served in Vietnam. It was a possibility we had discussed during our engagement. Overall everyone took the news in stride because other announcements had fallen through. This one stuck though and eventually the long national nightmare was over. The South Vietnamese nightmare continued for a couple more years but that is a post for April.

Read the "This Day In History" article here.

January 28, 1982 - United States Brigadier General James L. Dozier is rescued after being held captive by the Red Brigades in Italy. Kidnapped from his home on December 17, 1981. General Dozier was the deputy Chief of staff at NATO's Southern European land forces headquarters. The Red Brigades in Italy had foreign support from the Czechoslovak StB and the PLO. Small arms, logistics, and training were provided with the PLO being the "middle man" for the transfer from Czechoslovakia.

The general tells his own story: Retired general recalls 1981 terrorist kidnapping

General Dozier in Uniform

General Dozier on Day of Rescue

Red Brigade in Italy's Flag

January 28, 1990 - Romanian protest against Ion Iliescu government. Protesters in the tens of thousands gather in Victory Square to call for open free elections as the former Soviet Union satellite tries to recover from the December 1989 revolution that resulted in the Dictator Ceausescu's death.  Romania was one of many Soviet satellite nations experiencing the "Winds of Change" during the turbulent years as the former Soviet Union fell apart.  You can read the BBC article here: Romanian Protest

Ion Illiescu Speaks to the Protesters

Entertainment From This Week in Cold War History:

January 29,1964 - Dr. Strangelove Movie Release - What a great movie! It holds it's own with any CGI enhanced flick of today. What a wonderful combination of absurdity, comedy, and current events in 1964! And, who can ever forget the ending where Major "King" Kong rides the bomb all the way down as if he was riding a bucking bronco?! An oddity I recognized on the movie posters is that the poster image is of B52s and the movie uses interior shots of a B52 but uses film of B58 Hustlers in flight for the flying scenes. This is one of my Cold War movie favorites.

One of Movie promotional Posters

Rent or buy movie at Amazon link

Major "King" Kong 

January 1972 - American Pie - Don Mclean is on top of the Billboard Charts - Almost all of us in this generation of Cold Warriors knows this song. The backstory is that Don McLean was a paperboy delivering papers when Buddy Holly died in the plane crash. The headline became the catalyst for the song later in his career as as folk singer. The attached link takes you to the full 8 1/2 minutes version on Youtube.  American Pie song link.