Operation Redwing
US Atomic Veterans
Gary Gray
Gary Gray sent email about his duty at Operation Redwing.
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003
From: "Gary Gray" willing39@comcast.net
To: "Keith Whittle" pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: Redwing
Hi Keith,
I was aboard the USS Badoeng Strait CVE116
during the Operation Redwing tests in the Marshall Islands in 1956. I was a
young sailor of 19 and a part of the electronics crew on the "Bing Ding".
I too was witness to the shots and can especially remember Cherokee with
vividness. All of the other shots seemed to pale in relation to Cherokee.
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Here is a picture of the Electronics Crew that was taken in 1956 aboard the
USS Badoeng Strait CVE116 while we were in the Marshall Islands for Redwing.
I am the only one wearing a
white hat and Steve Osborn is directly to my left. You may use it on your
site as you wish. As you can readily see, Steve and I were just kids of 19
back then.
Click on the picture for a larger view. | 
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We were mustered onto the flight deck and had to be ready for a 5 am shot.
Our backs were turned to the direction of the explosion and I personally had
both arms crossed over my eyes as we were told to do. When the shot went
off there was no sound, only the intense light and heat that struck us. I
could see the bones of my arms, though my eyes were closed. As the light
slowly decreased I dropped first one arm and then the other and waited to be
told it was ok to turn around. I believe we waited about 20 0r 30 seconds
before the shock wave struck along with the sound. When we were allowed to
turn and look, the south pacific darkness was no more and the entire world
seemed lit with what can only be described as intense and pure colors as the
atmosphere was ionized. The blues and reds and oranges ands purples that
emanated around the black and boiling ball was of the purest color
imaginable. Then the ball rose through the first layer and we got to see a
glimpse of Hell. It was black and seemed to continually break into itself
and the light and angry red in the cracks was frightening. There was a
continual crackling much like ice makes when dropped in water and lightning
was seen below the ball and in the ball. As it rose it seemed to me to take
over what we could see of the world, so focused on that ball of fire were we.
When it was over I cannot remember anyone saying a word as we just went
below decks. It was too awesome to want to talk about right then. We were
later told that the yield was 21 megatons. They always announced the yield
to us at a later date.
Though this was an adventurous time for a young man who had never been away
from home, it was also a very difficult time for all of us. We could not
measure our stay there by any chronological time span, only by the number of
shots we had to participate in. We were told that number at one point. All
of the shots were at 5 am on a Monday morning and many a Monday morning as
we were waiting for the final countdown the shot would be canceled for one
reason or another. This was always a disappointment because it meant
another week in the South Pacific under difficult circumstances. We all
wore film badges that were collected and new one issued every few days.
I remember that our mail was censored and no one could go back to
civilization for any circumstance. I remember a boatswains mate that had his
wife and daughter killed in an auto accident and they would not release him
to go home for the funeral. He broke and jumped ship in the middle of the
South Pacific and started to swim for home. They had to lower a lifeboat
and go get him and shipped him off somewhere, presumably a hospital in
Hawaii. This happened at least twice that I can remember. I also remember
that we ran with all outside ventilation closed as we used the "wash down"
system for the first time. (It seems the wind shifted and we had to run from
the fallout) It seemed like days that we were restricted to the hot, humid,
and unventilated inner belly of the Bing Ding.
For recreation we were taken to Enyu (Nan) island where we could drink beer
and lay around the sand. It was only recently that I became aware they had
detonated an atomic bomb there. The crew became very restless as time
passed and we steamed for Kwajalein to take a few days liberty at the base.
One third of the ship went ashore and the next day we were kicked out of
port by the camp commander who, I was told, was junior to our skipper
Captain Jaap. That really was a blow to the skipper because of what had
happened and we bore the brunt of that too. It seems some of the men
wrecked the NCO club, rumors were that someone drove a piece of heavy
equipment off a pier and there was talk of rape of women that occured that
day.
When we returned to the United States, it was to berth at Bremerton,
Washington to mothball that grand lady. The crew were the ones to take her
down to metal on the insides and apply new Zinc Chromate and repaint the
interior. I had to join the rest in chipping paint in deep down recesses
such as the laundry. I remember that we were painting the primer and many of
us became stupified with the unventilated fumes and a medical doctor had to
help me up to the deck for air. That was when the headaches first began and
I suffered with them for almost twenty years. I have severe
endocrinological problems, including hypertension and diabetes.
I would love to hear from any of the electronic crew of the Bing Ding that
were there with me. So far I have only found one.
Thank you.
Gary Gray
Portland, Oregon
Email:willing39@comcast.net
Keith Whittle
July 28, 2003
[ Operation Redwing ]
