Operation Ivy
US Atomic Veterans
Joe Guido
Joe Guido sent email about his duty at Operation Ivy.
From: Jagui67@aol.com
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001
Subject: Ivy
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
Hi Keith,
In 1951 I was aboard the USS OAKHILL LSD7 during Operation Ivy as a
electrician. That was one experience I will never forget. We swung around a
buoy for nine months and then on the morning of 1 November 1952 we were told
to go on deck and when we were given a signal, we were to cover our faces, face a bulkhead and lean into it. When that bomb went off I thought we all
were done for. I never prayed so much in my life.
You said you wanted a few more details about my tour of duty. I'll
tell you what I remember. The Oak Hill was temporarily attached to the Pacific
Fleet. We were told that we would be gone for a long time but they never told
us where we were going. Only when we arrived at Enewetok we were told that we
were there for a nuclear test. The day of the test all of the electrical
division was told to meet in the electrical shop where we were told that a
nuclear bomb was to be exploded and were supplied with eye protectors and to
expect a very hot wind after the explosion. We were about 15 to 20 miles from
the test site. After the bomb went off we felt that terrible hot wind and were
told that we could now take our eye protectors off. We could see the mushroom
cloud forming and debris flying into the air. I never saw a cloud so big in
all of my life. Some say it was at least 3 miles across. A few days later we
returned to the site to find that part of the atoll was gone and in its place
was a very large crater. They say the size of the bomb was 10 megatons. I would
never want to go through that again
Joe Guido
Scranton PA.
Email: Jagui67@aol.com
Keith Whittle
March 6, 2001
[ Operation Ivy ]