--- title: "The US used this cartoon turtle to prepare kids for nuclear war" date: "2018-04-02" modified: "2020-10-21" authors: - name: "Logan Nye" job_title: "Senior Contributor, Army Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/logan-nye/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/us-used-cartoon-turtle-prepare-kids-nuclear-war/" categories: - "Cold War" - "History" - "War History" --- # The US used this cartoon turtle to prepare kids for nuclear war ![]() Bert the Turtle was created in 1951 by the U.S. Federal Civil Defense Administration to teach young children how to prepare for a nuclear blast. --- The cute little turtle was designed to make the frightening prospect of nuclear war more bearable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60 Bert the Turtle gets a lot of flak today for supporting tactics that seem flimsy, like telling people to hide under a picnic blanket when the flash from a nuclear detonation reached them: ![]() *GIF: youtube/nuclear vault* But surprisingly small things have been shown to reduce damage in a nuclear blast. The military found that [white paint reduced damage to structures]() and began repainting nuclear bombers. A [survivor of the Hiroshima bomb reported]() that wearing two pairs of pants saved her legs from radiation while her torso was severely burned. So maybe the turtle was on to something, even if this is a very optimistic depiction of what it would look like when civil defense workers came to rescue you after a blast: ![]() *GIF: youtube/nuclear vault* No fire, no panic, and the bike is still in working order, eh, Bert? ## Author Logan was an Army journalist and paratrooper in the 82nd. Now, he's a freelance writer covering military history, culture, and technology. He has two upcoming podcasts and a Twitch channel focused on basic military literacy. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [Facebook]()