1962, The Cuban Missile Crisis.

The standoff with Moscow over nuclear weapons in America's backyard.

Actual warheads - the bombs,the actual bombs were in Cuba.

They were already there. And the delivery system was coming over.

Suddenly it seems very important to have adequate supplies in every home.

I remember vividly people going to the local supermarkets and buying up all kinds of canned goods and throwing them back in their cars

and driving up to the Siskiyou Mountains or the Trinity Alps or the Sierra Nevada Range to get out of the blast range of any nuclear weapons that might fall in the bay area.

There are rumors that an attack may come from within,that Soviet spies are plotting to bring America down.

The Senate sets up hearings to unmask communists in the government and media.

And they saw ghosts behind every corner and enemies on every bookshelf.

So this effort to root out the enemy at home became a defining moment.

After World War II when the Cold War emerged

there was this feeling that the country could split apart very easily politically

and there was a desire that that not happen.

So there was this kind of sort of self-imposed conformity.

If the communists are atheists, Americans are religious.

If the communists are acting collectively,

we are true individuals.

If the communists want to break down family structures,

we are the tight nuclear family.

Communism. Armageddon.

These threats to the nation's freedoms are just too close for comfort.

The United States has seen off superpowers in the past.

Digging deep to defend what matters.

Maybe the most important values we have are our family, faith, and the American flag.

But these values,which Americans have defended since the Revolution,are about to be challenged in unexpected ways.