Upshot-Knothole 1953 Oregon Atomic Veterans Don Campbell Don Campbell lives in Junction City, Oregon. A veteran of Korea, and the Upshot-Knothole tests. He contacted us here in Portland after a co-worker searched the internet for information relating to the stories Don told about his experience at the test site. During a telephone conversation we learned that after duty in Korea, Don was stationed at Ft. Lewis and then sent to Camp Roberts in California and finally to Camp Desert Rock. He was a member of the 412th Construction Engineer Battalion. He was to participate in all 10 of the atomic detonations during Operation Upshot-Knothole. At Camp Desert Rock, Cpl. Campbell was one of the first eight cleared to go into the forward area to work at the ground zeros. One of his jobs as a Corporeal was to supervise the construction and placement of the trenches where he and his fellow soldiers would crouch while awaiting the final countdown for the detonation of the most powerful explosive weapons in the world. Don remembers that during one test they were stationed in the trenches very close to ground zero. "The tower was easy to see and it had a weird blue light on top. We had been in the trench for quite a while and were getting restless. It was still very dark and you could see all the stars. We heard the countdown over the bitch boxes that were in place around the trench areas and we ducked further down into the trench. When the bomb went off you noticed the light, it was kind of a blue color. I raised up a little bit early and looked toward ground zero and the fireball looked like a giant basketball sitting on the ground and was an orange color. It was very beautiful to look at. "During one of the tests there were three goats staked out in the open. Two in front of us and one behind. The first goat was the closest to ground zero. During this test the firestorm went right over us. When we raised up and looked around the two goats in front were scorched real bad and all the yucca trees for a long way behind us were on fire. Some of the ditches had caved in." Don told his story of the Atomic Cannon which fired shot Grable. This giant 280 mm cannon, shot an atomic artillery shell several miles downrange to burst above a mock town complete with buildings, roads and used cars. The CO and several others were taken by convoy to tour the place before the detonation. Don went along as a driver. "On one shot, we were in the trench area and heard sirens, we looked around and saw a convoy with flashing lights, armed guards and a limo. It drove past us and pulled up to the tower where the bomb was sitting on top. A man in a black suit got out of the limo and taking a small case with him, climbed the tower, in a while he was down and the convoy drove away. A short while later the countdown began." Don kept one souvenir from Desert Rock. This document was very important. The article which follows was a standard type of Home Town News Release issued by the military about troops as a type of public relations. It tells about Don's atomic service. ARMY HOME TOWN NEWS CENTER KANSAS CITY,MO. March 1953 ATOMIC MANEUVERS: Watch your wire service for exact time of blast. DESERT ROCK V -- Cpl. Thurman D. Campbell, son of Mrs. Dores Woodcock, Route 3, Roseburg, Ore., was one of the specially assigned Army men who participated (March 17) in the Atomic Maneuver at Camp Desert Rock, Nev. He occupied a forward foxhole during the atomic blast and immediately after the blast charged forward in skirmishes to mop up an imaginary enemy theoretically weakened by the A-bomb blast. Exercise Desert Rock V was a sequel to battalion combat team exercises conducted by the Army and the Atomic Energy Commission at the desert site last spring, and is a key part of the Army's training program. Corporal Thurman Campbell is a member of the Sixth Army operational staff for Desert Rock, where he also assists other troops from all over the country who come to the Mojave Desert for this special combat training. His father, Donald E. Campbell, lives at 115. E Second st., Newberg, Ore. (editors note:) This announcement was for the first shot of ten atomic weapons detonated during Don's participation at Upshot-Knothole. [ Upshot-Knothole ] [ Home Page || What's New || Email || Family Mail Call || Notes and Hints ] [ Atomic Veterans, Atomic Test Series and Dates ] [ T-Shirts || Videos ] Information about the National Association of Atomic Veterans [ The NAAV Story || NAAV Medical Data Base Information ] Atomic Veterans History Project © 1997-2000 For use of the material found on this web site, please send us an email with your request.