Published by
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
I was in middle school the last time I contemplated dying in a nuclear fireball. It was 1983, and I had just seen “The Day After,” a TV movie that depicted a fictional but horrifying U.S.-Soviet war. The movie showed plenty of graphic destruction when the warheads struck the Midwest, but what shook me the most was the moment before impact, when a crowd at a football game watches Minuteman missiles soar into the blue afternoon sky. “They’re on their way to Russia,” says a character played by John Lithgow. “They take about 30 minutes to reach their target.” His companion glances at him. “So do t…