Twice Sept. 4 I heard mention of the Soviet Union.

Ocean City - Twice Sept. 4 I heard mention of the Soviet Union. For over 40 years the two most powerful nations in history were engaged in a global "state down" with nuclear weapons at the ready that were more than able to destroy the world dozens of times over. The politics and alignments of those years set the stage for the world as we now know it. The fall of the Soviet Union ended this era, but spawned new and perhaps even more troubling situations. Young folks have never experienced the threat of nuclear annihilation and don't understand what brought us to this uncomfortable place in history.