Operation Ivy
US Atomic Veterans
George M. Dillard
George M. Dillard sent email about his duty at Operation Ivy.
From: "George Dillard" gdillard@cox.net
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: Operation Ivy
Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001
I participated in Operation Ivy Mike in the fall of 1952 and witnessed the
shot on 1 November. At that time I was a yeoman on the USS Fletcher
(DDE-445). Because I was one of the ship’s yeomen, I was among the first to
know that we would leave Pearl Harbor and be gone for several weeks, maybe
months. But I didn’t know where we were going or why. I already had orders
to go to Newport, RI to attend Court Reporter’s School and I was not
scheduled to return to Pearl Harbor until a few days after the Fletcher had
left port. When I returned from Newport, I found I had orders to report for
a flight to Eniwetok.
The flight to Eniwetok was uneventful except for the landing. I recall that
we touched down near the water at one end of the island and stopped near the
water on the other end. I finally learned why we were there when I arrived
on the Fletcher. There wasn’t a lot to do during the weeks leading up to
the shot on 1 November, but just about every afternoon as many of the crew
as would fit in the captain’s gig and the motor whaleboat would go to one of
the small islands in the chain and play softball.
On the day of the shot, we probably were 25-30 miles away. We were ordered
to wear long-sleeved shirts with the sleeves buttoned and to turn down the
brims on our hats. On deck we faced away from the blast and the countdown
started. The first noticeable effects were a flash of heat and a gust of
strong wind. When we turned around, we saw a huge mushroom cloud forming.
This was a sight that even
pictures can’t adequately describe; you had to see it.
Shortly after the air drop of the atomic bomb over the Atoll on 16 November,
we left the area and headed back to Pearl Harbor. No one, including the
families of the crew, was supposed to know our scheduled arrival. However,
somehow the word got back to the wife of one of the crew. To everyone’s
surprise, including the ship’s Captain, many of the families were waiting on
the dock when we arrived.
I joined the crew of the Fletcher in the spring of 1951 and left in the fall
of 1953, when I was transferred to the North Island Naval Air Station,
Coronado, CA. I left the Navy in February 1955 and, after completing
college in 1959, I began a career as a mathematician with the Navy
Electronics Laboratory in San Diego, CA. That career has spanned over 42
years and is continuing.
George M. Dillard
San Diego, CA
Email: gdillard@cox.net
Keith Whittle
August 17, 2001
[ Operation Ivy ]