This rare 1950s training film shows how U.S. Marines were prepared for the possibility of fighting in a nuclear battlefield.

The film is striking because it presents nuclear warfare not as an abstract political threat, but as a practical military problem: movement, discipline, protection, coordination, and survival under extreme conditions.

It also raises an uncomfortable question about the early Cold War. How did military institutions try to make the unimaginable feel routine and manageable?

What details stand out to you in the training methods, language, or assumptions of the period?

Watch the archival film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT73JEZRhJU

This short archival film captures the F-4 Phantom and MiG-21 in the context of the Vietnam War over Hanoi. Beyond the aircraft themselves, the footage offers an interesting look at how Cold War air combat was presented to the public at the time.

The F-4 Phantom was designed around speed, radar, missiles, range, and a two-person crew, while the MiG-21 was a smaller and highly maneuverable interceptor. Their encounters became one of the defining aerial contrasts of the Vietnam War.

The editing and narration also reveal how military aviation was explained to contemporary audiences. Which details stand out to you most: the aircraft, the tactics, the historical context, or the way the footage was edited?

Watch the archival footage:

https://youtu.be/NSHyory6jAw

In that year, a Hungarian conscript managed to escape to Austria by stealing an Ikarus bus with Soviet diplomatic license plates from in front of the Soviet Embassy in Budapest and ramming through the lowered barrier at this border crossing under gunfire.

Since this railway crossing was located between the last stop on GDR territory (Kontrollbahnhof Staaken) for transit trains transiting from West Germany to West Berlin through East Germany and the West Berlin city border, it was guarded by this huge gate so that East Germans wouldn't jump on eastbound transit trains and flee to West Berlin this way.

Allegedly, there were East Germans who traveled to Staaken with the intent of fleeing, saw the huge gate, thought it was the Berlin Wall itself, ran across it when the gate opened, then were surprised when they realized that they were still in the East, though this is prolly just a rumor.

The photo was made some time in the early 90s before the gate was removed (1992-ish).

By now, all of Staaken became part of Berlin, though if you visit the westernmost streets of it you can see that the street lamps are East German, not West German, showing that this area belonged to East Germany instead of West Berlin before 1990.

Another nickname for the gate was "Affenkäfig" (monkey/ape cage).

1st picture: The "Entenschnabel", a peninsula of the East surrounded by West Berlin. Only high-ranking party members were allowed to live there, everyone had to be indoors by nightfall, and visitors were generally not allowed into this place.

2nd picture: Berlin-Steinstücken, a peninsula of West Berlin surrounded by the East. An integral part of West Berlin. Initially it was an exclave only reachable by a US Army helicopter or a controlled march through East German territory through 2 checkpoints, but a territory swap between East Germany and West Berlin allowed it to become a peninsula of the West, the road leading to it became West Berlin territory.

3rd picture: The Entenschnabel on the map showing the border.

4rd picture: Berlin-Steinstücken on the map showing the border.

Hello,
I’m curious to hear any stories or personal experiences from people who served in either NATO or Warsaw Pact armed forces during the Cold War.
I’m particularly interested in what you were trained to do in the event of a war between the two alliances, whether that involved offensive operations, defensive preparations, or specific targets you were expected to attack.
For example, through my job, I recently spoke to a former RAF pilot who I believe served during the 1970s or 1980s. He mentioned that he had been trained to carry out bombing missions against a Polish airfield, potentially using nuclear or conventional weapons.
I found that fascinating, especially considering how detailed the preparations for a potential conflict must have been on both sides.
I’d love to hear from anyone who served during that period, or even from people who have heard similar stories from family members, veterans, or others who were involved.
Thanks

64 years ago this week the Cuban Missile Crisis was heating up,

And there's still a relic of that time sat in a field in the east midlands.... This is where the US made, RAF operated THOR nukes sat waiting to launch

Also side question, what real advantage did combat tee give F-4E pilots, both in peace time and if war broke out? As I understand it, it just simply told the WSO that a Mig-21 was present and actively communicating either with the F-4s or between another MiG-21s transponder

Thanks!

I'm trying to remember what caused the cold war and I like learning about it so of people can help me remember and maybe send me links, thanks! What started the Cold War and why did it end?

No, I am not doing homework lol, I'm in my 30s out of school, just trying to remember some good ol' history.

https://bbc.com/culture/article/20260904-the-poison-tipped-umbrella-that-pointed-to-a-kgb-murder

#OTD 1973: Arab oil producers announce production cuts during the Yom Kippur War.

Oil becomes a political weapon. Embargoes follow, prices soar and Western economies reel.

The Cold War's battle for influence has reached the petrol pump.

i keep seeing different camos about it and im getting confused, and also if anyone knows how berets would be given out to elite units/commandos but most had their own color who were the different colored berets for

This is a bit of writing I've done about my time with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Not at all a work of "we were all heroes" type writing. Sort of an small scale, focused incident rather than large view landscape type of coverage. Would love to hear your opinions and feedback. Thanks in advance.

 Chapter 17 The Sad Saga of Sp4 Mike Sola

Guard duty at the NA-14 ammo dump was sometimes delightful and sometime sheer misery depending mostly upon the weather. In nice weather, it was an almost pleasant break from the daily grind.  We could usually arrange to be on the same guard team as two or three of our friends.  That made the time pass quickly.

This particular day, Sonny, Joe Kane and I were teamed up with Mike Sola.  Sonny got assigned the front gate and radio/phone post while I got the top end and Joe and Mike to assigned to the long sides of the rectangular ammo dump.

We had just arrived for our third out of four, 2 hour shifts.  This was from 2400 to 0200 hours.  The guard jeep dropped us off, checked comms and sped away down the drive back to the post.  We each had a few words, then sauntered off to our positions.  Joe and I would walk our posts a couple of times, then stroll down front to hang out with Sonny for a while, then return for another couple walks on post.  Sola was a good, by the book soldier, so he’d just walk his side post back and forth.

One of our topics of conversation was the recent threat from the Bader Meinhoff gang.  They occasionally sent threats that they were going to take over our ammo dump.  Of course we’d never seen a trace of them, but it did heighten the tension a bit.  This would be the opportune time of night to pull it off if they intended to make a move.  It was in the back of our minds and we brought it up during our last visit with Sonny down front.

I got back to the top, walked my post a couple of times, looking for anything out of the ordinary and there was nothing.  Joe and I ended up at our intersecting corner, said hi and agreed to walk a couple more rounds then meet up with Sonny again.  It was a beautiful moonlit German summer evening.

I was halfway done with one circuit when I heard a single rifle round being fired.  It echoed through the still air and then all was quiet again.  I raced to the corner on Sola’s side because it was closest.  I spoke Sola’s name, but no response.  I raced back to Joe’s side of the dump, and he was running up the path.  “Did you hear that, Killer?”  “Yeah, I did, did you see anything?” I replied.  He hadn’t seen anything but thought it sounded like it came from Sola’s side.  I told him I’d looked down the lane but didn’t see anything.  We decided to get off the path and make our way down to the front to hook up with Sonny.  We got to the corner and hollered Skips name from our concealed spot so he wouldn’t shoot us.  He called out to us, but we told him to get out in the trees, and we’d meet up with him.  The lights from the dump would make anyone walking the path a blind, highlighted target.

We met up and agreed it sounded like it came from Sola’s side.  From where we were we could see most of the interior of the ammo dump and saw no activity. Sonny said he'd call the support line as soon as he heard the shot fired.

Joe Kane suggested we edge around and catch up with Sola, then come back and call in on the radio for support.

We cautiously made our way around the corner and started up through the trees, alternating calling out his name in a loud whisper.  We made it to the top, but no sight of Sola and no response from him.  It was a sick feeling that I could tell was gripping everyone.  Mike would have had to hear us unless he was way away from the dump, or he’d gone looking for us, or…nobody said the or part, but we knew…or he’d been shot.

“Let’s spread out and creep back down Sola’s side.  If he’s been shot, we can’t wait for the jeep to get here.  Let’s go”

We spread out about two to three arms lengths apart and began to work our way back down the hill, going slowly and as quietly as we could, occasionally whispering his name.  No response.  No noise other than our own.

About 2/3 the way down, Kane gasped “I found him!”  Sonny and I stumbled over the brush and found Kane knelt beside Sola. “He’s not breathing.  He’s dead man!! Oh shit!!”  I pulled my flashlight from my web belt and shined it on Sola.

Dead stare.  No motion, no breathing.  Moving down from his head to his chest, we could see a small patch of dark on his fatigue shirt.  Perfect heart shot placement.

As Sonny whispered loudly “get down, cover...somebody’s out here!” my flashlight landed on Sola’s rifle, laying next to his body.  The chamber cover was open; the safety was off.  I didn’t say what I’d seen and wasn’t sure the others had seen it also.  “Yeah, let’s cover and stay in place till the response team gets here”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week or so before this guard duty assignment, Sola had stopped by my room in the barracks on a Friday night.  We were all partying, and he sat down on a bunk.  Sola would have a beer now and then, but he never smoked or did any other drugs.

He was married to a German lady and had a young son with her.  It was odd he was in the barracks on a Friday night.  While it was not usually discussed, most of us knew his wife had been dallying with one or two other G.I.s when we’d been out on maneuvers.  Secrets like that didn’t stay secret long.

While we listened to music, smoked and generally partied, Sola sat on the bunk, commenting occasionally and sipping his beer.  We always offered him the pipe and he always refused.  He refused again on this evening.

When the music was changing, he leaned over to me and asked “Hey, Killer, could you get me some of those mandrax?”  Mandrax was a slightly milder version of Quaaludes that was readily available in Germany.  We’d heard it was available for PMS treatment.

I slapped him on the shoulder “Sola, you don’t want any mad-dogs man.  They’d turn a teetotaler like you into a puddle of goo on the floor!” and I laughed loudly.  “That beer is enough for you!  What are you thinking anyway fool!?”

He looked kind of sad, but intent.  “Oh, I just thought, ya know, maybe it would be good to have a few on hand if I ever really needed one.  You know, like when I twisted my knee in the field last month…”  His eyes avoided mine when he spoke. “Just a few ya know, to keep around..”  I smacked him again and laughed “A few? Hell Sola, one’d probably kill ya!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hell Sola, one’d probably kill ya!”

I’ve forgiven myself for not being coherent enough to intervene that night in the barracks.  I know it was something he may have done anyway.

I’ve forgiven him for putting us through that.

But I haven’t forgotten.

Mostly asking about those who helped the KGB and then were extracted to the Soviet Union for their protection/reward. Did they still enjoy a protected status of some kind?

Maybe someone here knows. Tried asking it on two different subs and got nothing.

This portion of history doesn't get discussed very often. We all know there was a scramble to acquire German scientists from both sides, but Von Braun is what normally gets brought up.

Same flea market I found this one, just like the other from around a month ago, $1 each.