Title: RFAAP Historical Project Dates: Comments: 60s VIDEO AUDIO The 60s was a decade of youth as 70 million

baby boomers became teenagers and young adults. It was an eventful and colorful decade that included an inspiring space race, the civil rights movement, a music revolution, a war in South East Asia, and much much more. In the 1960 presidential race, America elected the charismatic John F Kennedy after a spirited campaign with Richard Nixon. Roger Maris broke Babe Ruths home run record in 1961 as the Yankees won the World series. In 1967 The Green Bay Packers

Radford Historical Exhibit 1

became the winners of a new football championship, called The Superbowl.

It was also a decade of space exploration and JFK promised the nation that an American would set foot on the moon by the end of the 60s. The race was on! In 1961 , Alan Shepard became the first American in space and in 1963, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth. Glenn would eventually become a US Senator. And in 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first men to walk on the moon fulfilling JFKs promise to the nation.

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Politically, the Cold War continued to escalate and the Berlin wall was built to separate communist East Germany from the west. And many believe the closest the world has ever come to a World Wide Nuclear War was in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. (JFK insert) nation in 1961

(JFK Newsreel JFK shot) Tragically, in November of 1963, an assassins bullet ended the life of President Kennedy and sent the nation into a state of shock and devastation.

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(Music Up)
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At the height of the Cold War along with the fear of spreading communism worldwide, Lyndon Johnson became the 36th president of the United States and faced an immediate crisis in Southeast Asia. In the 50s the US had begun sending military advisors to South Vietnam in response to the looming threat of a North Vietnamese invasion. President Johnson then deployed American combat troops in 1965 and the conflict would rage on for another 10 years. (Vietnam footage)

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Beginning in 1962, production at Radford increased to support the requirements for the Vietnam War. By 1968, propellants were being manufactured at a record level, with the year-end total topping 162 million pounds. Over 9000 people worked at the plant that year, now known as the Radford Army Ammunition Plant. Radford also began producing TNT with the construction of three continuous automated lines, the first project of a major renovation and modernization effort. The war in Vietnam would continue into the 70s and Radford continued to support the effort as the decade ended.

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The 60s also saw another invasion, this time from England lead by the Beatles and Rolling Stones, This started a music and lifestyle revolution that was highlighted by the famous Woodstock festival in 1969.

Just five years after the death of JFK, tragedy and sadness would strike again in 1968, as both Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated. Also in 1968. Richard Nixon was elected President in and would lead the country into the 70s.

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