Operation Castle
US Atomic Veterans
Bob Long
Bob Long sent email about his duty at Operation Castle.
From: "Bob and Sue Long" bl2391@zoomnet.net
To: "Keith" pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: Re: Atomic Veteran (Operation Castle)
Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001
Hi Keith,
At one of the Operation Castle shots, my ship, the USS Shea DM30, which was
a destroyer minelayer, laid a string of mines in connection with a test.
After one of the shots, I don't remember which one it was, we sailed over
ground zero, and what I do clearly remember, the ocean was covered with
leaves, chips of wood, and bark. The ocean was just littered with this stuff, for
miles around.
This has always made me wonder why this stuff didn't get burned by the
fireball, maybe it was an underground shot.
My ship was 13 years old when scrapped in 1958!
My good friend Lt. Cmdr Cecil Patrick, started out as a white hat, served for
33 years and died several years ago from low dose nuclear exposure!
At this writing I am still cancer free.
Bob Long
Email: "Bob and Sue Long" bl2391@zoomnet.net
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