Operation Redwing
1956
US Atomic Veterans (PA)
Mickey (Charlie) Feltus
From: "cfeltus" cfeltus@email.msn.com
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: Redwing Memories
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999
Like others I was sent to the "Rock" to provide cryptographic service to
Operation Redwing in May 1956. As an 19 year old draftee the idea of atomic
testing did not bother me since it gave me the chance to practice my MOS and
to get some idea of life on a Pacific Atoll. Going over should have been a
clue. We May-Dayed on Johnson Island, got a repair and May-Dayed again on
Kwajalein. The last leg of the trip found us accomanied by two PBY's. But
I was not worried since most of the passengers included brass and VIP's.
The dosimeter was used to define the safe limits of radioactivity on our
body. I remember one time when I had about 13 times the allowable limits.
I was excited since this meant homeward bound. But the science of nuclear
safety was still emerging and the safety limits were simply changed to
accommodate nuclear reality. No wonder there was a fire in the St. Louis
records room.
I was assigned to one of the rectangular quonset huts and a new life began.
I was lucky. A south Alabama boy in with the likes of Pete DePino, Rick
Grimaldi and Nick Ianelli who named our section the "Black Hand of the
Mafia." Don Woods and Jerry Etheridge were in with me. Don was a former
Ohio State football player from Mt. Sterling and Jerry was a great product
from the coast of Virginia. The other person was a cook who drank too much
beer every night and wet his bed accordingly. Many times we placed him and
his bunk out in the rain to clean them. He never knew about this until he
was clean.
At least 10,000 hours of pinocle, canasta and other card games were played
in our room.
The crypto room was ours since most officers did not have access. We
stashed coffee, booze and other items bargained for in there for
safekeeping. We worked out butts off because so much traffic was in code.
The best part was taking the really good messages to Admiral Handlin on
Japtan. These frequently were requests for special items for his wife on
his next visit to Hong Kong. We only wished we could accompany him!
Quickly made lagoon rats out of Hal Muenchow from Michigan who opened my
eyes to another part of our Nation and Donald Lesure from Massachussets.
Our main repairman was Benny Pumillo from New Orleans who was a class cajun.
Old Wade Stroud was one of our sergeants and he was out of South Carolina.
He was great but a little weirder than most of us. And he came after we
did.
John Labrador and Bert Gold, both from Baltimore, could always be counted on
to suggest unreal experiences to keep us from going crazy. One of our fine
targets were the cooks. They tried to harass us on the 24 hour KP duty but
we soon learned that we could control, or disrupt is a better term, the
kitchen flow simply by making sure the pots were really clean, and that took
time. That duty came about every three days since it was limited to the
lowly privates and pfc's.
And who can forget that stupid Wednesday afternoon island defense program
and "formal" parades. We had access to three carbines, two forty-fives and
a plugged up cannon. "Formal" consisted of brogans, cut-off khakes and
short sleeves. But the new colonel wanted us to shape up.
Between this group we kept things lively and made the best of a not so
pleasant assignment. Our dogs, Brownie and Peanuts helped. Many bucks
changed hands when the season started and the line up was long but the
winner not determined. We also loved to get "white meat" we could orient.
At one point we had a whole barracks of them next to us and the chance for
greatness was there. I was elected to be chief welcomer. I put on my
combat boots and a straw hat Bob Considine, a reporter covering Red Wing,
had given me. I added a fishing pole to this attire and walked past the
entire barracks to the rocks on the lagoon side, sat down, fished for an
hour or so and walked back. Welcome to the "Rock" and to the world's only
national forest that consisted of one palm tree.
I hated the place but I loved my colleagues. Hope you all made it home and
back to reality.
Mickey (Charlie) Feltus
cfeltus@msn.com
Chamblee, GA
From: "cfeltus" cfeltus@email.msn.com
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: Old Eniwetok Soldiers Never Die - They Go To The Web
Date: Sat, 13 June 1998
Just happened upon this site and it renews old memories. Especially seeing
Al Whayland who was in the same quonset hut and the same comm-center. I
remember a lot but most of it is blurred by time and that terrible duty.
How could they send young men to a place devoid of females, with the
exception of Brownie.
Fortunately I still enjoy good health in spite of the
amount of radiation I had to have inhaled. I clearly remember extending
beyond the safety limits which was a ticket home only to find they changed
the standard. And some feel Clinton is dishonest!
I still recall the days of tidal change on the reef and the millions of
fish. There was nothing quite like it. We used to fish the atoll and look
over the Japanese ship for relics and fish. There were a lot of weapons in
the reef at that time.
I also recall the time Don Lesure and I got
separated in the lagoon looking for helmet shells. It is a wonder we
survived some of the things we did.
If there are any of my drinking buddies around, please lift another and get
in touch.
Mickey (Charlie) Feltus
cfeltus@msn.com
--Keith Whittle
June 12, 1998
Operation Redwing