IT WAS ONLY A TEST!

IT WAS ONLY A TEST!
29 April, 2014   Houston

I was nine years old. My mother and I had just moved down to New Orleans from Washington, D.C. It was a typically hot, humid day in early July. I had spent a leisurely morning visiting relatives around the corner from my grandparents'.  Since it was getting to be lunch hour, I hit the hot pavement for their house, where I knew a wonderful meal and warm smiles awaited me.

Suddenly and without warning, AIR RAID sirens began to wail!! It wasn't just one - the sounds were coming from everywhere - coming from far and near. One sounded like the air raid siren I heard tested in D. C., its drone became louder, then softer, then louder again as its horn turned around in a circle. But there were other sirens sounding a warning - several others. Surely this was no test.

"It's CASTRO!!" I thought, or maybe some diabolical regime in the East! Whoever it was, they wanted us dead, or worse, and this was it! Today was the Day of Reckoning...

Now, I recalled the emergency warning siren testing that was done in Washington, D.C on a newly-installed device, and how lots of us got spooked by an unannounced drill. But swords rattled overseas, so they said on the news, and we were well-indoctrinated to be ever on the alert for just such a day. Now that day was upon us!

I began to run back toward my aunt's house, and on my way there, I spied a house with its door open, and a TV set on on the living room. I went closer to see if this was legit or just a test. The answer came immediately, as the CD (Civil Defense) emblem filled the screen, and a steady tone could be heard coming from the set.

That was it: I hightailed it to my grandparents! I must have looked funny, racing in the front door, all hot and sweaty, screaming hysterically: "IT'S A NUCLEAR ATTACK!! THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!!"


"What in the WORLD's got into that boy," my mystified grandfather asked my grandmother, as he came into the kitchen to see what all the fuss was about.

"We gotta get to a basement!" I advised, recalling my "Duck! and Cover!" training. There's still time to hide. This was not an easy matter, as I discovered: New Orleans houses do not have basements.

"What's the matter with you, Sugar?" my grandmother asked kindly, keeping a wary eye on a pot she had on the stove.

"I just heard the AIR RAID SIRENS!" I explained. "That means they're going to attack us soon!"

My grandfather bust out laughing, and clapped his hands in sheer delight at what I had just said.
"Urchin," (that was a pet name he and his brother has for me) that was just the Twelve O'Clock whistles, that's all!" he reassured me with a hug. "It's nothing to worry about."

"Oh, yeaaa?" I protested, "Then tell me why there's CD stuff on the TV, HUH??"

So, in order to humor me, my grandfather put on the radio - and heard nothing but music and talk. Nothing about bombs or attacking airplanes or missiles - or Castro - was mentioned. I told him that may be, but what he had to do was tune to 640 or 1240 kHz on the am dial... THEN he'd know what's what, by golly.

He complied, turning the knob first to one part of the dial, then to the other,... and heard only static. STATIC!!

"No Russians." he said matter-of-factly. "What's more, no Chinese."

"No CUBANS NEITHER?" I insisted.

"Nope - nary a one." he replied, shaking his head, smiling broadly.

"So then what's with the air raid sirens?" I asked, having to get to the bottom of all this drama.

"Oh, THAT!" he asked, chuckling. "They go off every day at noon. That's to let us know that it's twelve o'clock. They also test them every day, so it there is something afoot, the sirens will be in tip-top working order.

"OK, OK, I guess you're right," I said, relieved ther wasn't any real attack, but feeling a little silly after making such a fuss. "But tell me one thing:" I added, not yet totally convinced, "What about the CD on the television?"

"Oh, the Civil Defense does a test every so often. It was only a test."

I was finally satisfied. Nontheless, I need to say right here and now, that for the next week or so, I kept a proper vigil fron a perch high atop the backyard pear tree, listening to the radio and scanning the skies for enemy aircraft with a pair of binoculars. I realized there wasn't a medal or anything for being on the lookout - but patriotism has its own rewards.

I still remember that hot day in July, when the sirens wailed from everywhere and the TV broadcast a CD emblem of warning. I remember how scared I was that day. It was only a test.


"THIS IS A TEST.
THIS IS A TEST OF THE EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM.
THIS IS ONLY A TEST" .................................................................................................