 | Eerie Cold War shelter uncovered under Brooklyn Bridge| OFF-Topic / Misc. Discuss Eerie Cold War shelter uncovered under Brooklyn Bridge in the Current forums; Hey Dan and Joe, I wonder if you guys ever knew about this. Interesting piece of NYC history.
A routine ... |
|
03-21-2006, 12:49 PM
|
#1 | | "Shooter"
Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Moorpark, CA
Posts: 12,482
Country:  | Eerie Cold War shelter uncovered under Brooklyn Bridge
Hey Dan and Joe, I wonder if you guys ever knew about this. Interesting piece of NYC history. Quote:
A routine structural inspection of New York's landmark Brooklyn Bridge has unearthed a forgotten Cold War-era stockpile of survival rations to be used in the event of a nuclear attack.
The cache of water drums, medical supplies, paper blankets, drugs and several hundred thousand calorie-packed crackers was found inside a vault in the bridge's masonry foundations, the New York Times said Tuesday.
The find, made last Wednesday, is especially significant because many of the supplies were packaged in boxes stamped with two evocative years in Cold War history: 1957, which saw the launch of the Soviet Sputnik satellite, and 1962, when the Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.
John Lewis Gaddis, a historian at Yale University who specialises in the Cold War, said US civil defence agencies were building fallout shelters all over the country in the 1950s and stocking them with survival provisions.
"Most of these have been dismantled; the crackers got mouldy a very long time ago," Gaddis told the Times. "It's kind of unusual to find one fully intact -- one that is rediscovered, almost in an archaeological sense. I don't know of a recent example of that."
The city's transportation department, which controls the Brooklyn Bridge, has moved to secure the site pending a decision on what to do with the find.
And the health department was called in to handle the drugs, which included supplies of Dextran for treating shock.
"We find stuff all the time," said Transport Commissioner Iris Weinshall. "But what's sort of eerie about this is that this is a bridge that thousands of people go over each day.
"They walk over it, cars go over it, and this stuff was just sitting there," Weinshall said.
|
__________________  http://www.vg-photo.com Wherever their bones may lie, the courage of heroes is consecrated in the hearts and engraved in the history of the free. Lt Col Honner DSO MC, 39th Commander speaking of the dead from the battle of Kokoda. | 
|  | |
03-21-2006, 12:54 PM
|
#2 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: George - South Africa
Posts: 2,543
Country:  | If you guys get any pics please post some. Great info mate.
Henk
__________________ 
The ultimate revolution in aircraft designs during WW2 | |
| | |
03-21-2006, 12:55 PM
|
#3 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Winnipeg
Posts: 2,205
Country:  | Wow how can something like that be forgotten by the goverment? You would think that they would have a list of these places and slowly go down the list and take care of them, one by one. Thats a funny one Eric.
__________________ 
In the ocean of the military, reflective of all distinguished pilots, an honored Buddhist person. | |
| | |
03-21-2006, 01:02 PM
|
#4 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: George - South Africa
Posts: 2,543
Country: | I think they can open a Museum in those shelters to show the public how they look like.
Henk
__________________
The ultimate revolution in aircraft designs during WW2 | |
| | |
03-21-2006, 01:14 PM
|
#5 | | IP/Mech THE GREAT GAZOO
Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 12,951
Country: | I know on the brooklyn side of the bridge there seems to be old dwellings built into the base of the bridge - I never heard of them being used for a bomb shelter, interesting!!!
__________________ "IF ITS RED OR DUSTY, DON'T TOUCH IT"  | |
| | |
03-21-2006, 02:26 PM
|
#6 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 5,845
Country:  | We have also several shelters in Prague, they're connected to the Subway tunnels.
Great info. | |
| | |
03-21-2006, 05:19 PM
|
#7 | | Minister of Whoopass
Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Long Island Native in Mississippi
Posts: 12,890
Country: | Same thing with me that Joe said.... Interesting stuff.... Quote: |
Wow how can something like that be forgotten by the goverment?
| Ask urself the same question concerning the 100's and 100's of Missing POW's from Vietnam...
__________________  "Boyington was a Drunk, but He was a Drunk We'd Follow Straight Into Hell..."
-- Lt. William Northrop Case | |
| | |
03-21-2006, 07:57 PM
|
#8 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,848
Country:  | maybe cause they don't give much of a damn anymore
__________________  "The German Luftwaffe always fought without any reserves. This is also the reason why we have pilots with extremely high numbers of victories."
- General der Jagdflieger Adolf Galland"  | |
| | |
03-21-2006, 08:01 PM
|
#9 | | Minister of Whoopass
Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Long Island Native in Mississippi
Posts: 12,890
Country: | They never gave a damn....
And ur signature phrase is gay as hell, change that before I do...
__________________ "Boyington was a Drunk, but He was a Drunk We'd Follow Straight Into Hell..."
-- Lt. William Northrop Case | |
| | |
03-21-2006, 09:18 PM
|
#10 | | "Shooter"
Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Moorpark, CA
Posts: 12,482
Country: | Sad but true, Dan. I guess us old cold war relics know it all to well. Sure they give a damn, until the fit hit's the shan, then suddenly, you are a liability, or a throw-away.
But they had so many shelters during the cold war that I doubt even during it's height that they knew where they all were. And once the perceived threat is gone, it doesn't seem to matter that stuff just got left where it was.
I remember walking into a weapons bunker in several places over the years to discover ammo from guns that had long since gone out of the inventory.
__________________ http://www.vg-photo.com Wherever their bones may lie, the courage of heroes is consecrated in the hearts and engraved in the history of the free. Lt Col Honner DSO MC, 39th Commander speaking of the dead from the battle of Kokoda. | |
| | |
03-22-2006, 03:02 AM
|
#11 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,848
Country: | damn, and all that food wasted...
__________________ "The German Luftwaffe always fought without any reserves. This is also the reason why we have pilots with extremely high numbers of victories."
- General der Jagdflieger Adolf Galland" | |
| | |
03-22-2006, 05:11 AM
|
#12 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Royal Deeside/St Andrews, Scotland, UK
Posts: 11,122
Country:  | Pretty cool, surprised someone didn't know about it though. http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/new...84_16x9_bb.asx
__________________  "Success is not Final, Failure is not Fatal, it is the Courage to Continue that Counts"
Sir Winston Churchill
"To him the people of the world largely owe the Freedom and liberties they enjoy today"
Enscription on Hugh Dowding's (AOC Fighter Command 1936-40) statue in London
Moderator WW2 Talk: A WW2 Discussion Forum | |
| | | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | | Display Modes |  Linear Mode | 
Posting Rules
| You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off | | | All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:26 PM. | | |
