A New Hero

After 42 Years

On Tuesday, September 21, 2010, President Obama was on television (now that's a real news flash) and this time I watched him (I usually don't) because he was presenting, posthumously, our nation's highest award, the "Medal of Honor," to our latest "true American Hero" only 42 years after the fact. The recipiant was Chief Master Sergeant Richard Etchberger who lost his life, while on a top secret mission in Laos during the Vietnam War, more than 40 years ago.
Even though he had little or no combat training he, not only, held the enemy at bay throughout the night but called in airstrikes on their positions. After daylight, when the rescue helicopters arrived, while under fire from the enemy, helped his three wounded comrads to and into the sling which lifted them to safety. After his wounded comrads were aboard the helicopter he was lifted aboard but was hit by enemy fire and died before they reached the necessary medical help.
Because it was not legal for the United States to cross the border into Laos (we were not officially at war with Laos) this mission remained secret for all these years but finally this true hero was recognized. Better late than never!

In no way is this an attempt to diminish or to take anything away from Sergeant Etchberger but there is a very large group of ex-service men who have been forgotten for fifty years and more. They are the so-called "Atomic Warriors" of the 1940s through the 1950s and into the 1960s when they were subjected to large doses of radiation, without their knowledge, during our early atomic bomb test, at first in naval test and then at the Atomic Proving Grounds in Nevada.

When soldiers arrived at Camp Desert Rock, Nevada to participate in "Operation Buster-Jangle" in Autumn of 1951, they knew little about what they were in for. The army booklet handed to the first nuclear (atomic) soldiers at the Nevada test site did not discuss atomic bomb radiation hazards. It did discuss possible hazards from indigenous reptiles and poisonous insects.

Introduction to the bare facilities at the Nevada test site came partly from an "Information and Guide" booklet distributed to incoming GIs. "The officers and men of this operation share with you the hope that your visit to Camp Desert Rock will prove an informative and revealing experience which you will always remember," read a sign by U.S. Army Major General W.B. Kean. (That it did) Every page bore the inscpiption "Restricted", and the booklet was replete with injunctions against talking too much.
"To assist in maintaining security of "Exercise Desert Rock" it is desired that you maintain secrecy discipline regarding classified information observed here. Everyone will want to know what you have seen" ---- don't even write home about it.

These GIs participated in the series of atomic test over a period of several weeks, with the largest nuclear explosions coming from bombs dropped by aircraft. Several thousand men watched from about seven miles away as a brilliant atomic light flashed across the desert; some were marched to within a half mile of ground zero where they inspected vehicles and gun emplacements for damage from the blast.

The Pentagon eagerly assessed behavior of GIs as they responded to orders soon after the half dozen nuclear detonations, which totaled 72 kilotons. The more intimate and more lasting consequences, apparently, were not of great concern to the military brass.

Former Army Sergeant Cecil G. Dunn, an "Operation Upshot-Knothole" veteran, recounted from his home in Pensacola, Fl., "After the blast, they marched us to ground zero. I will never forget the smell after that shot. I have no idea how much radiation was there. I know of no film badges. I don't remember seeing any of the men wearing any. I know I never had one." Recalling subsequent chronic headaches lasting for years, followed by nosebleeds, a nervous breakdown, festering spots on his legs and dizzy spells, Dunn said; "I feel like I am drunk all the time, but I don't drink. I tire very easily now --- all I have ever ask is to live like other people. But I cannot help blaming the Government for subjecting me to nuclear testing without warning me of the potential consequences and I will always wonder why it happened."

Part of the above information on the "Atomic Warriors" came from the inter-net and part from memory. An earlier posting recounts part of my experience. Many of those "Warriors" have already departed this life and for far too many of them the cause was cancer. Pray for all of us and also the ones who made the decisions to use us as "human guinea pigs." Until next time, thanks for your time and stay tuned. -William