The only thing that seemed to help Mary was the tears.
The act of crying seemed to “loosen” up and cushion the fear and anxiety that would strike her unexpectantly. Every time she’d hear a siren, she’d feel her chest tighten, her palms sweat, and her heart beat race. “Twenty minutes” she’d say, and look at a watch or a clock. It will all be over in 20 minutes. The world as she knew it would all be over. Destroyed by nuclear war.
Mary worked for the North American Aerospace Defense Command – NORAD, serving in the Air Force when a “glitch” appeared in the defense system. It was a Friday, when the top brass were either away for a long Veterans’ Day weekend, or not readily available to the skeleton crew left to “man” her station. It turns out that Mary — at age 20 — felt responsible for defending the Eastern Seaboard from a nuclear war on Nov. 9, 1979.
It was to strike within 20 minutes, Mary recalled telling a film crew on the grounds of Omega Institute, where she was attending a five-day Retreat on “The Costs of War,” for veterans with post traumatic stress. That’s how much time they believed it would take unless the US could intercept and/or fire first against the former USSR, The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
“I remember leaving my post to go to the bathroom” Mary said. “What I really wanted to do was to call my family. But, it would not have done any good.” A full-scale nuclear missile attack on the US was detected by operators like Mary who were watching display monitors at four major defense sites, including the Pentagon Command Centre, according to what is now declassified information.
Instead of using the phone, she returned to her duty, her station to deal with the next 20 minutes. (Weeks later, Mary would fall to the floor, crouching into a ball. Twenty minutes, she’d recall. Twenty minutes until the first bomb would go off. She’d look at her watch. The 20 minutes would pass. No damage to report outside. Lots of damage inside, Mary would recall.)
Mary rejoined her crew, praying the “Our Father” with an enlisted man — one called “Evil Dave” because of his hard demeanor and a reputation of being the meanest son of a bitch on staff. Mary still recalls how compassionate Evil Dave was that day. They spent long desperate hours together trying to contact their superiors as NORAD readied for war. During peacetime, the US nuclear arsenal is in a mode known as defence readiness condition – DEFCON 5. When a threat is perceived, its seriousness determines the level of alert which can quickly move to the ultimate posture of DEFCON 1 – maximum war readiness.
The state of readiness moved from DEFCON 5 to DEFCON 1. Planes carrying nuclear weapons were launched as well as the President’s jumbo jet housing his nuclear command centre, according to published reports. War became imminent. And Mary has not been the same since. She internalized what those exposed to such potential horror experienced. Got physically sick and was hospitalized, only to find out there was little remedy for the stress that occurred when she would hear a siren go off, a loud explosion-like noise, or some other “triggering” condition that would cause a “flashback” of pain.
There was no such thing as “PTSD” Post-traumatic stress disorder). (It would not be recognized by mental health experts until years later.) No hospital treated anyone with the physical symptoms Mary had expressed. Especially, when there was no “battle” fought.
But Mary battled for years, being forced to leave the Air Force and seek a “home remedy” to deal with her nightmares and anxiety attacks. She would simply cry. Crying eased the stress, the tension, the fear that often gripped her like a vise. She also exercised. Daily. And spent more and more of her time outdoors with nature.
She still has bouts with the demons from 30 years ago. They became too intense when she was in a Ph.D. program for criminal justice and gave it up to keep her sanity, the peace she obtained by keeping the built-up of stress at bay. She found that following a spiritual path helped. A lot. And telling your story so that others might benefit also helps.
The “glitch” was eventually made public. Mary said there’s a movie based on the incident, but without all the fancy computer maps. See WarGames (1983) and global thermonuclear war.
Contoveros 
Hi, my best friend still has breakdowns and trauma from this incident. I am researching the issue using her computer because she is currently in a psych ward due to her last crackup. Basically, she totally lost it and was trying to memorize the entire internet and begging Jesus t forgive her before her “… soul was destroyed…” for her part in the event (identifying and marking off the nukes). It was hard to watch a strong woman crack that hard.
She is still trying to find her scope buddy, Danny, to see how he’s doing, but it’s going to take some serious effort on my part. I am glad I found somebody else’s site with a similar story. It’s nice to know that she is not totally alone. I think I will bring this story to her. Thank you 🙂
Her site can be found through the link here.
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I’m glad the story was helpful and I am sad to hear of your friend. I hope she can find a way out of suffering so much.
I could not locate the “link” that you mentioned. I would appreciate seeing it should you ever return to this site again.
michael j
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Oh, I was under the impression that it was attached to the comment. The address for her site is http://wileywitch.com. She has lots of posts there, but “The World Ending” is one that might be of interest. I still have yet to get her to understand categories so it may be hard to find.
At any rate, I took this story to her and she was stoked to know there was a woman at a different site. I think she would appreciate hearing from her if that’s okay with Mary.
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Michael, what a fabulous gesture – giving people an opportunity to tell their story. This gesture has to be very close to unconditional love!! I am so amazed at the strength of the human soul. Mary’s simple request came from the depth of her being and was the most powerful gesture she could have undertaken for herself. I am so grateful she called on her spiritual self and invited another soul. Evil Dave was surely affected profoundly – whether he would show it or not.
– Amy
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Mary invited the world to see her plight. We shared a park bench while two cameras were shooting our comments about military life and PTSD. It was for a documentary on veterans.
Neither of us were camera shy. I guess because we were kinda talking to each other about our mutual experiences. I know of guys with PTSD. It’s tough when you come across a woman who faced similar trauma all in the name of the United States Armed Forces.
We just wanted to shout “no more wars!” And tell our stories.
michael j
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Thanks for the “memories!” I’m impressed with your memory of the story/history. Here are some clarifications: Evil “Dave” Burnette was a 6’2″, 300 lb. African American and I was a 5’2″, 90 lb White/Irish lass – what a pair.
After realizing the futility of contacting my family, I returned to my post to watch and ready myself for the battle – with Evil Dave. It was then, on scope, that I asked him to pray with me, and we did.
The croutching and huddling started with the flashbacks and depersonalization which started, with the fury of hell behind them, weeks later.
November 9, 1979:
Senator Percy of Florida quotes: “All hell broke loose as 1000 ibcms were spotted incoming from Russia . . .”
War, huh, good God, Lord, what it is a good for, absolutely nothing . . . say it again.
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Thank you Mary!
I inserted the updates you mention. Am so glad we chatted on that park bench with the cameras rolling. We need to tell our stories so other generations might see the futility of war.
michael j
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We all need to tell the story of our life, for when we do we realize that the story is all one and the same.
Peace,
Phil
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All one and the same. I like that. Thanks, Phil.
michael j
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