Operation Crossroads
1946
US Atomic Veterans
Boley Caldwell 3d
Boley Caldwell was for several years the NAAV Medical Data Base Custodian. I asked him to send us his story at Operation Crossroads.
In January of 1946 at the age of 18 years Pfc Boley H. Caldwell 3d, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was transfered to the Manhattan Engineering
District at Los Alamos, New Mexico, from Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He was
transfered to the "Hill" along with some 75 to 100 former Army Specilized
Training Reserve Program troopers who as engineering students had attended
various universities prior to their 18th birthdays.
Upon arrival all were quarantined pending background investigations for various levels of security clearances. To keep them busy they were assigned to the MP Company
of the 9812th TSU (CE) Manhattan Engineering District, Santa Fe, New
Mexico. Perimeter guard duty of Technical Sites was the order of the day
for January and February.
In early March 1946, Boley was issued a "Q" clearance and assigned to Company E Of the 9812th TSU with primary duty as Facilities Control Draftsman in the Post Engineers Office. The assignment carried with it a promotion to T/4.
About the end of March the Post Engineer, a Mr. Hendricks, explained what was being manufactured at Los Alamos and generally how implosion type Atomic Bombs functioned. He also indicated that there was to be a test explosion that summer in
the Pacific and the army was looking for former engineering students to
perform several scientific duties. He asked me if I would like to go and
see an atomic bomb explode. Not being too smart, I said sure why not -
adventure - adventure - adventure!!! Besides this new assignment was to
carry with it a promotion to T/4.
May 30th 1946 -- Three hundred plus civilians, officers, and enlisted men from the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, US Health Dept., etc. were off on the USS Haven
APH-112, a converted Hospital Ship to Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
After a one day stop in Hawaii for shore leave and R&R, we proceeded
toward Bikini. Each day of the voyage was filled to overflowing with
lectures, briefings, lab exercises, etc, conducted by the leading science
academics of the world and all directed toward the goal of making
Radiological Safety Monitors of some 386 soldiers, sailors, marines, what
have you. In fact this was the very first training course in Radiological
Safety proceedures. Boley Caldwell was assigned as the enlisted
radiological safety monitor for Initial Boarding Team #10 who would
eventually operate off of the USS Suncock AN-80 during both Able and Baker
tests.
The USS Haven arrived at Bikini Atoll on the morning of 12 June 1946. It
was announced that the test rehearsal for Able Day would be on 25 June 1946
and would use the code word Queen Day. Queen day operations were designed
to test the entire vastly complicated Operations Plan for Test Able. Manym
many aircraft, ships along with 42,000 personnel had to be evacuated,
redeployed, controlled, and tracked. Not an easy job with the primitive
radio communications of the era.
The basic plan was to drop the implosion type atomic weapon from a B-29
bomber and have it detonate at a critical altitude directlly over the USS
Navada which was anchored at the center of 92 target ships.
Following the detonation there were to be several radiological surveys of
the lagoon waters. The first was to be done by aircraft flying low over the
lagoon. The second lagoon survey was to be done by radio controlled drone
landing craft equipped to take water samples. The third survey was to be
even more detailed and was to be done using radiological safety monitors
aboard 6 PGM Gunboats. Each Gunboat was accompanied by 6 small landing
craft all with radiological monitoring teams aboard. Radiological safety
monitors came to be refered to as the "Geiger Men."
The next phase of the operation to take place after the water had
reached a safe radiation level was to board target ships by 12 man initial
boarding teams. The teams had ship structurial specialists, medical
specialists, ammunition specialists, communication specialists, propulsion
specialist, damage control experts, 2 radiological safety monitors, and a
still photographer.
The radiological safety team on each initial boarding team consisted of a
Army or Navy Medical officer and an army enlisted assistant monitor from
the Manhattan District. The enlisted monitor was put aboard a target ship
first to make a quick survey of the target ships main deck to determine how
long the main boarding crew could stay aboard to accomplish their individual
tasks for that particular ship. Next the main body boarded the target ships.
The commissioned Radiological Safety monitor would then complete a detail
survey of the upper decks while the enlisted monitor complete with
impregnated coveralls (for chemical protection) rebreather lung equipment,
and two radiation detection instruments would conduct a radiological survey
inside the ship on each deck below the main deck. Most ironic was the
supposedly nasty job of below deck work was assigned to the enlisted men
while the officers were topside breathing clean (but radioactive) air and
walking on freshly washed decks (but the decks were highly contaminated by
fallout).
Let's hear it for the "grunts." When you play with the dragon you better
know where his tail is.
Boley Caldwell's equipment always included:
- gas mask (useless),
- 1 ea USN Rebreathing Aparatus,
- 1 ea canteen w/water (very handy),
- 3 meals of K-Rations (very handy for ingesting Plutonium when eaten aboard target ships),
- 1 ea Navy green fatague uniform,
- 1 ea May West life preserver,
- 1 ea First Aid pouch,
- 1 ea pistol belt,
- 1pr. combat boots,
- russet (very very handy for spreading all sorts of radioactive fallout back aboard boarding
- ships and hotel ships),
- 2 ea film badges,
- 1 ea Dosimeter charger,
- 2 ea pencil dosimeters,
- 1 ea Victoreen X-236 Geiger Counter 0 to 2 R/24 Hr,
- 1 ea Ionization Chamber X-247 0 to 200 R/24hr,
- a dozen or so condoms to water proof the pencil dosimeters and film badges, and
- 1 ea Map Case containing a Notebook with pen, clipboard with survey forms.
Later on during the coverage of diving salvage operations I carried a modified X-247 with a probe and an Esterline/Angus paper recorder. The probe was connected to the
X-247 by several hundred feet of coaxial cable. The probe was sent down
attached to the deep sea divers.
In all, we were well equipped to sink fast if we missed the landing net on our initial jump from the boarding ship across to the target ship and landed in the water.
After a target ship was cleared by monitors the crews were put back aboard
to clean up the mess, fire up the boilers, return to normal duty.
Queen Day rehersal went very well with all elements at the right place at
the right time.
1 July 1946, Test Able. The above water shot went off as planned but the
Army Air Corps' hotshot bomb dropper missed the target ship by 1500 yards.
Glad that I was some 12 to 15 miles away and did not see a darn thing.
Initial Boarding Team #10 proceeded with dispatch and were able to clear all
ten of their assigned target ships in 2 1/2 days. The vast majority of the
radiation had vented into the upper atmosphere and only a very little
residual radiation had been trapped by porous surfaces and equipment.
Test Baker was scheduled for 25 July 1946. The preparation training and
work spent between Test Able and Test Baker allowed for several Beer Busts
on Bikini Isle. (Papst Blue Ribbon 3.2 cooled with CO2 fire extinguishers),
lots of sack time on clean sheets under airconditioning, and movies every
night on the boat deck with vanilla ice cream (1 qt. per man).
The practice run for Test Baker (Mike Day) went smoothly and so on the 24th
of July 1996 the lagoon was again evacuated. The next morning was a
beautiful clear bright day and the members of Initial Boarding Team #10
were sprawled out on the fantail of the USS Suncock AN-80 about 7 miles
from ground zero. At exactly 8:00 AM the weapon which had been slung under
a Yard Oiler down about 90 feet was detonated.
Out of the bowels of the ocean rose a 1/2 mile wide column of water which
reached about 3 miles in altitude in just a few seconds. It was just like
watching a ball game on large screen TV. As the water column fell back to
the surface a thick foggy haze enveloped the entire fleet of target ships.
This "Base Surge" with its high level of radioactive materials was the
cause of all of the health problems suffered by Crossroad Veterans in later
years.
Aircraft, drone boat, and Lagoon Patrol monitors all reported extremely high
levels of radioactivity almost immediately upon entering the lagoon. IBT #10
was able to board only 1 target ship that first day and it was too
radioactive to release it back to the crew. All in all I spent 19 days
aboard the USS Suncock AN-80 doing Boarding Team surveys, monitoring damage
control operations, and keeping a close watch on the level of radiation
aboard the Suncock and on her crew members.
On 13 August 1946 the big Brass decided that they could not decontaminate
the target ships and that the ships were going to be radioactive beyond the
point that was safe for crews to live aboard for many months. Almost every
one bugged out for the states on just about anything that floated.
Lucky ole' Boley Caldwell was selected along with 13 other enlisted
monitors to stay behind and help out during the "Stablization Period." On
14 August 1946 we started the process of evacuating all the target ships
(by towing) to Kwajalein Atoll some 100 miles from Bikini. This was done to
get the target ships out of the highly radioactive Bikini Lagoon. Boley
Caldwell monitored many of the Hard Hat deep sea divers as they worked to
raise the sunken submarines for movement to Kwajalein. By the end of August
all target ships had been towed to Kwajalein Atoll and the laborious
process of off loading tons of munitions off of target ships had begun. A
Decontamination Barge had been set up along side the USS Geneva an APA
hotel ship.
With the exception of a 3 day trip to Maduro Island to see a USO show it
was 12 hours a day, 7 days a week covering working parties when boarding
target ships. Boley Caldwell's log shows where he conducted monitoring
operations on over 50 target ships during the entire stay at Crossroads.
On 2 October 1946 Boley Caldwell and 3 other enlisted monitors were
transfered from the Haven to the island of Kwajalein for Air Transportation
to the USA and return to Los Alamos.
When we arrived at the Oakland Army Base under MP escort we were presented
with 5 months back pay, issued a complete new uniform issue, and given a
two day pass to San Francisco.
It seems that the MP's at the Fairfield, California, air base thought we
were a little out of uniform. I don't see why - everything I had on was
government issue. ie, Navy khakie shorts with Army web belt and brass
buckle, a Navy green fatigue shirt, Navy issue white socks with Navy issue
black low quarters (this was unforgiveable in the brown shoe Army), and an
Army OD overseas cap w/ engineer piping. We also had our T/4 stripes sewn
on the sleeves of our shirts. I think what confused the MP's were our Navy
orders for Army enlisted men who had JTF-1 ID cards, no Dog Tags, and
needed haircuts very badly. The shoes were not shined very well either.
All in all I spent some 4 months and a few wake-ups assigned to JTF-1 most
of the time performing Radiological Monitoring duties designed to prevent
exposure of troops to to an overdose of radiation. Unfortunately, too little
was known about health physics at that time, the equipment was woefully
inadequate, missing needed capablities, and very undependable. Because no
one was killed outright from an overdose the responsible United States
Government Agencies have joined in lock step professing that troops were
exposed to very little radiation and certainly not enough to harm them in
any way.
The deadly plutonium and fisson particle levels were never detected or
monitored (there was no field survey equipment in existence) and we
wallowed in them for days, weeks, and months breathing and injesting who
knows what or how much.
The same lock step occured after Viet Nam on the Agent Orange Veterans and
again after Desert Storm hostilities on the exposure to chemical agents.
If you look closely Department Of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs,
Center for Disease Control, National Acadamy of Science, etc. pull up their
previous press releases, dust them off, change the nouns, and reissue their
opinions.
When someone indicates they can provide a "Dose Reconstruction" for an
Atomic Veteran it is pure B-- S--- !!! There is no one this side of St.
Peter who can do that.
In 1949 Boley Caldwell earned a commission as a 2nd Lt. of Artillery and
spent the next 20 years working with missiles and nuclear warheads from USA
Detachment through NATO Army Group levels.
I ASK ALL ATOMIC VETERANS TO JOIN ME IN SUPPORT OF THE NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF ATOMIC VETERANS (NAAV) - WORRY THE HELL OUT OF YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVE "Weekly" TO GET OFF THE STUDYING OF ATOMIC VETERANS TO DEATH AND PASS ADEQUATE AND COMPREHENSIVE "PRESUMPTIVE LAWS" FOR ATOMIC
VETERANS.
Sincerely,
Boley H. Caldwell 3d
LTC(Ret) U.S. Army
Formerly the NAAV Medical Data Base Custodian
Email: atomvet1@earthlink.com
--Keith Whittle
January 5, 1998
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