Operation Alert 1955. A Soviet nuclear attack on American cities is simulated, with bombs ranging from 20,000 to 5,000,000 tons. Sirens sound, 15,000 public employees are evacuated from Washington, D.C. alone, the president and his staff are taken to a secret location for three days, and people across the United States take shelter when possible or lock themselves in their homes, protecting themselves as best they can. New York City’s streets are half-empty for ten minutes. Ground zero, for some reason, is Brooklyn. An estimated 8.2 million Americans would have died. More than half would have been in New York City. The operation is declared a success, but Eisenhower is stunned by the absurdity of this war. The US Army continues to request soldiers to defend Western Europe, but with half the country in total collapse, how can they send or keep soldiers in Europe?
