Operation Buster-Jangle 1951 U.S. Atomic Veterans John DeBusk John DeBusk lives in Dallas, Texas. A veteran of the Buster-Jangle tests, John contacted us through Fred Schafer's (Oregon Commander) National Association of Atomic Veterans web site. Dear Mr. Schafer: I see that you folks have the NAAV home-page up and running on the "net." I just received the latest edition of the Atomic Veterans Newsletter and I see that Pat Broudy is the editor of it. I was in the "Buster Jangle" tests at Camp Desert Rock in the Fall of 1951. I was in Co. "A" of the 188th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 11th Airborne Division out of Ft. Campbell, Ky. All of our tests were conducted at Yucca Flat at the test site. A photo was taken on Nov. 1st, 1951, the day of shot "Dog" and it was published in the Nov. 12th, 1951 LIFE Magazine. I am one of the guys in the photo and I know where 4 more of the fellows are that were in the photo. I also took some photos with my own camera at Yucca Flat and at Desert Rock. If I send you a .jpg picture file attached to e-mail, can your computer process it? Hope everything is good with you and if you get a chance, drop me a line. I live in North Dallas and I've built a few houses here. Good Luck John DeBusk John sent some photos for us to share with our readers Click on the photos for larger image. John DeBusk at "Hotel Yucca" at Camp Desert Rock, Nevada in 1951 during the Buster-Jangle series of tests. "The 1st battalion, 188th AIR and other units, were the first ones to go to the test site in Nevada and for some reason, we were the forgotten group. Yucca Flat was virgin territory when we arrived and soon after, we had the privilege of blowing it to hell. Some of the photos I took at Yucca Flat depicts vegetation, that all changed pretty soon in Oct. 1951." "This is the photo of me at Camp Desert Rock Oct. 27th 1951. I remember the date because it was taken on my Dad's Birthday. Note: the 5 gallon water can. The living conditions were less than comfortable at Camp Desert Rock, we were warned to keep our eyes open for sidewinders, tarantulas, and scorpions etc. The weather was hot during the day and cold at night. There were no facilities as electricity, tent floors, stoves, running water---no latrines had been installed at that time at the camp. The photo isn't the best in the world because it was taken with a Brownie camera. I would have been in a little trouble if the brass had discovered it." This was "a picture that was a popular post card in Las Vegas in the 50s. I sent it to my folks while I was stationed at the test site." "The 1st Battalion of the 188th Airborne dug the emplacements and foxholes at positions 1, 2, 3, and 4 for the Buster Tests. We dug about 2 ft. down with picks and shovels and the rest with air-hammers because the soil was so tight and hard. We were instructed to also fill bags of earth and place them in a ring around the emplacements. The one in the photo is just one of them and was at the 1000 yd. position from GZ. The holes were about 5 ft. deep and with the bags they were close to 6ft in depth." "The ring of sandbags in the desert is just another foxhole that the 1st Battalion dug out at the north end of Yucca Flat (area 7) for the equipment and sheep, there were 883 of us, so the reports say and we dug the foxholes for the tests at different intervals from ground zero, like 1000 yds., 1500yds., 2000yds., etc. The one in the photo is just one more of them and was 1000 yds. from G.Z." This is a photo of Shot Dog. This is what the troops were watching when the Life photographer took the photo below. Moments later they were on their feet, loaded into trucks to maneuver and examine the equipment displays at Ground Zero (G.Z.). This "photo was taken Nov. 1, 1951, the day of shot "Dog" and it was published in the Nov. 12th, 1951 LIFE Magazine. I am one of the guys in the photo and I know where 4 more of the fellows are that were in the photo." Names of the Soldiers (left to right): John DeBusk (with goggles), Schmidt, Wilson, Zerfas (with binoculars), Roth, Moore, Schleuter LIFE Magazine photo by Cpl. Alexander McCaughey, U.S. Army Signal Corps John DeBusk has his own website titled Atomic Veteran and it is very informative for the atomic veteran and other interested parties. [ 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.