Operation Hardtack 1
1958
US Atomic Veterans
Jim Hunnemeyer
Jim Hunnemeyer sent email about his duty at Operation Hardtack.
From: Hunnemeyer@aol.com
Date: Sun, 8 Aug 1999
Subject: Operation Hardtack
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
I was there! I was a Radioman 3rd on the USS Belle Grove, LSD-2. I'd like
to receive information from this web page. How do I do that?
Jim Hunnemeyer
Irvine, CA
hunnemeyer@aol.com
Thanks for the quick reply, Keith. It's been over 40 years since but there
are several things that are indelibly etched into my mind. This is a summary
of what I remember. There are lots of stories that go along with all this
but even your vast web-page doesn't have room for all of it.
Operation Hardtack, 1958
Jim Hunnemeyer
USS Belle Grove, LSD-2
now residing in Irvine, California.
Between April and September of 1958, the ship I was stationed on, USS Belle
Grove, LSD-2, was assigned to Operation Hard Tack. We shuttled between
Eniwetok, Pearl Harbor, and Johnston Island. Having to cross the
International Dateline on each of those trips, we lost count of the six and
eight day weeks we had. I know several sailors who had two birthdays that
year and several more who had none.
Being on a ship whose most important quality was "space" and a couple of
pretty sturdy cranes, we were assigned mostly to hauling cargo . . . mostly
target boats and structures that would be exposed to the tests. At one
point, it was rumored that we were actually carrying one of the warheads but
there was never any confirmation of this. Being the oldest and slowest LSD
in the entire fleet, with anything but perfect stability in the open sea, I
doubt if this is something the decision makers would agree to . . . but we
are talking about the military. Who knows?
Since we were at sea or in the Atoll most of the time, there were no towns to
visit for R&R. There was to supplant this, a recreation island, Japtan
Island which was part of the Eniwetok Atoll. There was a bar, a swimming
beach, and a shipwreck on Japtan Island. We went there in LCM's and piled out
like refugees, rushing to the bar to buy beer at twenty-five cents a can.
Problems always occurred when crews from more than one ship went to Japtan at
the same time . . . . fights always broke out. Many of the sailors didn't
think they had a good time if they didn't return with cuts and bruises all
over their bodies.
Most of the tests were held during the day and we were all required to stand
on deck and observe each one. We had no idea what we were looking at other
than the huge mushroom cloud that formed every time. Of course, the blast,
the shock waves, etc. were always impressive but none of us peons ( I was a
seaman at the time) were briefed as to what to look and listen for. After
each blast, we all went below decks while the wash-down system flushed the
radiation away.
The most dynamic test was our last one, held at Johnston Island. A warhead
was attached to a Redstone Missile and shot about 70 miles into the sky . . .
at 11:30 at night. The Belle Grove was to be directly under it which posed
some possible dangers. For this reason, 80 percent of the crew was evacuated
prior to the test and put aboard the USS Boxer for the duration of the test.
The Boxer was stationed about 25 miles from ground zero, an allegedly safer
location.
We on the Boxer were permitted to sit on the flight deck to observe the
blast. Again, we had no idea what to look for or what to expect. All we
were told was to bury our eyes in our arms (we peons had no protective
goggles) to protect our eyes.
The blast went off as scheduled and, as others have described, the flash was
so bright that I really did see the bones in my arm. After about five
seconds, we were told that we could open our eyes.
What we saw was the most awesome light show I have or will ever see in my
life. At 11:30 PM, in the middle of the night, the sky was lit up like it
was mid afternoon. And it stayed that way for about a half hour. The heat
from the blast was so intense that it literally created another sun in the
sky.
We learned later that a serious problem occurred from this test. Johnston
Island is only about 500 miles from Hawaii and apparently the blast also lit
up the islands like mid afternoon, also. The problem is that no one on those
islands was told that there would be a test like this so the phenomena was
totally unexpected. Remember that this happened only 17 years after the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Lots of people still remembered that. When
downtown Honolulu and other areas lit up like mid-day at mid-night, all hell
broke loose and no one had an explanation. Lots of apologizing and
explaining happened after that.
We got underway to come home on my twenty-first birthday. That was my only
celebration for "coming to age."
Email: Hunnemeyer@aol.com
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