Atomic Veterans Photo Album

"Before the shot called the "Big One" was tested, the soldiers were ordered to lay out in the open on the sands of the beach. My head was covered with several thicknesses of raincoat and my eyes were covered with my hands, yet when the blast went off I could see through all that with an unbearable light, which showed my hands as bright red and showed the outline of every bone." ~M.H. "Mo" Ingram

"Nevertheless, it was the most impressive sight, and a horrible thing I have experienced. We had to sit on the beach, legs crossed, heads down, and not to look at the blast until told. When we were given the word we could look, we could see the shock wave coming across the lagoon it was unbelievable. The boiling of the cloud was angry, mean, evil, all those things you think one would see in 'HELL.' To see the cloud rise, the stem, on top of that an ice covered dome. No words can really describe the sight." ~ Robert Campbell, Jr.