Hardtack 1958
US Atomic Veterans
Richard Greene
Richard Greene sent email about his duty at Operation Hardtack.
From: Bellgrove3@aol.com
Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2001
Subject: Re: Atomic Veteran (Operation Hardtack)
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
Hey Keith thanks for responding.
Richard Greene, Yeoman 3rd Class working in
the ships office aboard the Belle Grove from Feb 57 to June 60 and was aboard
her during Operation Hardtack and several of the blasts.
The one that stands
out in my mind most was the air blast from a rocket launched at Johnson
Island. I along with several other crew members were transferred to the USS
BOXER for the night. But I still remember sitting on the flight deck at
night as the bridge gave the countdown for the launch and the count down from
launch to detonation. We had to sit with our backs to the island, our hands
covering our necks pulling our heads between our legs and eyes shut. After
the launch, the guy next to me and I took a quick peak to watch the rocket
climb and at about 15 seconds we returned to our ordered positions. In the
silence of the dark night, the light from the detonation was like someone
putting a flashlight against my eyelids. I could feel the heat from the
fireball against the skin on the back of my hands covering my neck. I could
hear guys around me saying man, or Jesus Christ and other things. We were
told to turn around and it was like daylight as you could see for miles
across the water. I looked above me to see the burning fireball, then around
me to see the Belle Grove off in the distance some miles away. As I looked
back up at the fireball it must have floated into a jet stream as part of it
raced across the sky in green, orange, violet and purple. I am not sure how
long the fireball burned but it seemed a long time. I had heard that the
blast was seen in Honolulu with the base and civilian authorities receiving
hundreds of calls asking about the bright lights. There were other
detonations, but this one was the one I remember.
I also seem to remember our ship carrying a bomb or two on a float to a couple of the islands where they were taken out of the well deck and away from the ship to an island for
detonation. My tour was cut short in early August with an attack of appendicitis one night while watching some guys on the fantail trying to shoot a shark with a bow and arrow and I have no idea where they got it but as usual a lot of guys in the Navy were resourceful I was taken to Johnson Island and flown to Pearl for surgery.
Thanks
Richard (Dick) Greene
Email: Bellgrove3@aol.com
Keith Whittle
February 26, 2001
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