Completely in the Dark

On Sunday, Aug. 13, 1972, the Minneapolis Tribune reported that U.S. B-52 bombers flew 130 strikes over Indochina, dropping more than 3,000 tons of weapons “on North Vietnamese supply caches, staging areas and troop concentrations.”

The news included other “similarly mundane” headlines to this 12-year-old: “Harriman, Vance say Nixon ignored 1969 peace bid” and “President claims economic success.” In sports, “Tarkenton, Vikings topple Chargers 24­­–13.”

The top movies that summer were Ben, The Candidate, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, The Godfather, Frenzy and Slaughterhouse-Five.

Donny Osmond (“Puppy Love”) and Wayne Newton (“Daddy Don’t You Run So Fast”), oddly enough, dominated the radio. The big hit since July was Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Alone Again (Naturally).”

That Sunday’s forecast hinted at a chance of showers, high of 90, low of 62, under fair skies.

And just around sunset, at 8:23 p.m., after…