A Few Days in the Life

An Atomic Soldier

In the latter part of September of 1951 the 1st Battalion of the 188th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 11th Airborne Division was ordered to pack up and move out to a fenced in - tent city - where they were held for three days with no communication with the outside world before boarding planes bound for Camp Desert Rock, Nevada.
The month of October was spent in preparation for the biggest event of their young lives, a day that would live on in their memories forever.
Early in the morning of November 1, 1951 they were transported, by trucks, to their prepared command post where they left their packs and weapons, along with radiation film badges, in previously dug and sandbagged foxholes. Then they were trucked south 11 kilometers (about 7 miles) to a slightly elevated ridge where they would observe what was called "Shot Dog", the fourth test shot in the Atomic (now Nuclear) bomb test known as "Operation Buster - Jangle".
The following description of that event is copied from the November 2, 1951 edition of the "Indianapolis Star".

FIRST ATOM - SUPPORTED TROOPS SHAKEN BUT SAFE
AS MIGHTY BLAST BREAKS WINDOWS 75 MILES OFF

"Las Vegas, Nev. (AP) The United States' first atom-supported troops received a baptism of nuclear fire yesterday in a powerful blast that broke seven store windows in Las Vegas, 75 miles off.
Exercise Desert Rock, history's initial tactical use of an A-weapon, was a rumbling success from the moment a large bomb was dropped by a B-29 flying at 10,000 feet. The bomb burst at 9:30 a.m. (CST) at approximately 1,000 feet above the Yucca Flat site.
It was the fourth and loudest explosion in the Atomic Energy Commission's present series, but it was not as impressive visually as the third blast Tuesday. This may have been due to brighter sunlight (a half hour later) and high winds which broke up the clouds faster.
But to the G.I.s who were shaken in their observation post six to ten miles from the burst, this bomb was "it". And in North Hollywood, Cal., 225 miles from the scene, residents phoned police to report an earthquake.

There were no injuries reported to either service men at the test site, or civilians in Las Vegas or other nearby communities.
More than1,000 paratroopers and infantrymen - most of them attached to the 11th Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky -- were in the so-called front-lines for the single day maneuvers". ---

In a statement recognizing July 16, 2002 as a "National Atomic Veterans Day of Remembrance", President George W. Bush compared the Atomic Veteran's exposure to a nuclear radiation, as being as grave as any War Veteran who was wounded in action, in both instances, standing in harm's way while doing his duty, and protecting The United States of America. We firmely believe the President's statement was both accurate and compassionate, and we offer our thanks for his personal interest in all military personnel, including America's Atomic Warriors.
And to add insult to injury there was a study , conducted by F. Lincoln Grahlfs, as his PhD dissertation at the University of Michigan which discloses the following: "It has been suggested that there was a deliberate effort by some elements of the government to minimize any contact of these men with one another. Many of these men were explicitly admonished not to discuss their experience with anyone". (The threat was that they would be tried for treason if they talked to anyone)

Was that someone you knew? Thanks for listening, Stay tuned - William