Operation Redwing
US Atomic Veterans
Arnold Harlan
Arnold Harlan sent email about his duty on Wetok and Japtan during Operation Redwing.
From: arharlan@hotmail.com
To: "Keith" pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: Eniwetok Memories
Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2000
Memories of Eniwetok and Japtan
Ten days on a boat. I was sick before we got under the Golden Gate, and
remained that way for 3 days. I remember flying fish, the lights of Hawaii
from 200 miles away and seeing an island for the fist time after 10 days of
water.
Kwaj was our first stop and then Eniwetok.
I was on Wetok for four months before being transferred to Japtan. Things I
remember about wetok were walking to the movies with raingear even though it
was not raining – we knew it would eventually that night. I remember
drinking “cherry herring an coke” and my buddy in the bakery. I remember
going to the airfield and watching the B47’s and other jets arrive and
takeoff. I don’t know how they did it on such a short runway.
Transferred to Japtan in Jan of 1956. About 40 of us. Army, Air Force,
Coast Guard, Marines, and some scientists.
Good duty. We had two cooks and no KP. We were in charge of communications.
The communication shack was in the middle of the island. Worked three days
on days shift, three mid day, and three nights. Then off three days. Did a
lot of scuba diving, fishing, sunbathing, walking, basketball, etc.
Anything to make it less boring. We had a little army Sargent that had and
attitude – most little sargents did. Got chased by a coconut crab once.
Any crustascian that can open a coconut like a bandsaw is to be steered
clear of. We also had lizards on the island.
The testing started in May of that year. You can imagine how we felt on the
first one. Especially since we were the closes to the blast – about 7
miles. We saw the tower going up on Runit, and the next day it was gone.
We stayed in the mess hall on the fist blast because we didn’t know what to
expect. When the glasses started falling off the shelf we got a little
scared, but afterward when we got up enough nerve to go outside and see the
cloud, we realized that we were not in that much danger.
After that we went down to the beach for the other blasts. We would turn
our backs when the flash appeared and then turned around to see the
fireball. One of my buddies said, “How could something so beautiful be so
deadly?”
When the next test went off at Runit, I backed up into the water so I could
say that I was the closest person to an Atomic Bomb blast that year.
Most of the time the cloud drifted away from us with very little fallout. I
was the Radsafe team captain, and was responsible for measuring the
radiation after each blast, and report to the main island – Parry. On one
occasion, a hydrogen bomb was set off about 22 miles from us. The cloud
came over us quickly and heavily. I just stuck the counter out the window of
the Quonset hut. The radiation was so high we were instructed to stay
inside until it rained.
Rabbits and monkeys were positioned on our island and other islands to look
directly at the blast. Then scientist brought them to our island to study
them. Probably the sickest thing I saw. One day they pointed to a 50 gal
drum and told me to measure the radiation. The needle went off the scale.
When they cut up the rabbits and monkeys they threw the remains the drums.
I don’t know what happened to the drums.
We were told not to eat the coconuts or the fish we caught, but we did. We
had a 50 ft pier that jutted out into the lagoon. We would wait for a
school of bluefish to come around the pier, then we would spear one. The
cooks would deep fry them for dinner. Good eating.
We also tied spoiled food to a cord and sunk it to the bottom of the lagoon
just off shore – about 15 feet of water. When the shells would crawl to the
food we would scooped them up. One guy would gather the shell and another
guy would watch for sharks. Sharks like spoiled food also.
There is a lot more, I am getting tired of typing, and you are probably
getting tired of reading. More later if you want it.
Arni Harlan
Email: arharlan@hotmail.com
Keith Whittle
January 14, 2000
[ Operation Redwing ]