Holding Hands Under the Nuclear Umbrella

Book excerpt: Holding Hands Under the Nuclear Umbrella is the story of a young woman who shares the mid-twentieth century practice of school drills to respond to a nuclear attack on America with a young man who later becomes her husband and, with him as a career army officer, joins the army families committed to protecting their country. From Georgia to California, Alaska to Hawaii, and Germany to Japan, she relates the life of her military family over a thirty-five-year period. It is a life of challenge, difficulties, sorrow, pride, hope, and accomplishment, always mindful of the thousands of miles of separation from the families of their youth. There is always the presence of the danger of nuclear warfare, even into the last decade of the twentieth century as the dissolution of the Soviet Union suggested the threat was lessening. In retirement, Carol reflects on those days and life after the military, comforted by a sense of presence of people, some by her side, some she remembersall who made the days of holding hands a wonderful experience.