From: GGulbra891@aol.com
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999
Subject: Upshot/Knothole
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
Hi, I just found all this information on the atomic tests in Nevada. Got to
writing my memoirs and thinking about the past and got a little information
to remind me of my experiences.
I was stationed at Clarksville Base in 1953 and made the trip to Desert Rock
and was in the trenches 3700 yards from ground zero and the tower shot. An
experience that I will never forget. In fact, I was quite surprised to find out that I was going to be in the trenches which were incidentally quite deep.
Our bus load arrived at Desert Rock about one in the morning the day before the shot. I had five blankets on me because the stove was not working. I awakened to someone shouting Fire!
Fire! I jumped out of bed and looked out the tent flap to see a tent going up in flames. As the wind was blowing down the row of tents away from us, I went
back to bed.
I will tell you getting up in the dark it was cold as a witches tit, and
when those eggs hit a cold tray they congealed.
I was on my knees in the bottom of the trench with hands over my eyes,
when it went off. It was as if someone had set off a flash bulb right into my
open eyes. Then the ground shook and shifted; and it shook again. Shortly
there was a very sharp crack as the shock wave passed over the trench and we
were showered with fine soil.
I was a LieutenantCommander at the time wearing Khakis. There were a
few officers out there in blues, and you can imagine how they looked after
being in a trench and dusted by the shock wave.
Upon leaving the trench, where the tower had been there was nothing. The
two storied houses were mere kindling wood and the cars that had been placed
on the mesa were tossed about and those with closed windows were crushed.
Shortly the entire scene was obliterated by the smoldering yuccas that
had been set afire by the explosion.
It really was an unforgettable experience.
Regards,
George W. Gulbranson
Commander, U.S. Navy (ret)
Email:GGulbra891@aol.com
[ Upshot-Knothole ]