Cut-Down Shelters

Four months ago, President Kennedy appeared on television to urge that the U.S. build shelters to protect against nuclear attack. Such a program, he said, might well mean the difference between national death or survival. But the Kennedy Administration itself could not seem to decide just what sort of shelter program it wanted. And it was only last week, in the face of justly impatient criticism, that a plan was put forth.

Appearing at a crowded press conference, Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric announced that the U.S. will provide about $500 million to pay for slightly more than half the costs of 20 million community shelters in schools, hospitals, libraries, etc. States and the communities themselves must pick up the rest of the tab for the program, which should be completed by mid-1963. To qualify for federal funds, each shelter must be able to accommodate at least 50 people. All told, the Kennedy Administration hopes to help furnish at least a measure of fallout protection for some 70 million citizens.

The U.S. will not share in the costs of building shelters in commercial or industrial buildings. Neither will it participate in any sort of shelter program for individual families.* A detailed handbook on shelters, titled "Fallout Protection," which was prepared by government civil defense experts and the editors of LIFE, has been jettisoned--to be replaced by a bland tract that will be distributed in January.

*There is no shelter in the Washington apartment building where Gilpatric lives, but Gilpatric does have a shelter on his Maryland farm, where he spends most weekends.

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