Lawrence Leeper sent email about his duty at Operation Castle.
From: LeeperLE@aol.com
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004
Subject: My recollections of Operation Castle.
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
I was a radioman 2nd Class on the USS LST 1157 during the tests made in
the South Pacific, Operation Castle during 1954. We were there for all tests
but
the first one. Here are some things that I remember:
1. All cameras were confiscated. We were not allowed to make any pictures of
the test as well as anything we carried on board.
2. We all had to wear badges that measured our exposure to any radiation and
these had to be measured periodically.
3. The first shot that we experience caused a lot of the guys that were on
deck, with our backs away from the shot, scamper below decks. It was quite a shock to see the black sky light up as if it were noon day.
4. My best friend who was an avid hunter from Michigan, volunteered to join a
hunting party after the tests ended, went on the island where the natives had been
evacuated, to kill any animal life that remained( cows, pigs, dogs, etc) for humane
reasons. My friend died of cancer about 15 years ago.
5. Our ship carried the natives that had to be evacuated to Kwajelein. We
took these warm and friendly people to another island where the government had build simple housing for them. We had on our tank deck, 10,000 Rhode Island chickens, tons and tons of canned fish of all kinds, dried beans, rice, etc. to help them get established on their new homeland.
6. Because of the unfortunate incident of the first shot, from then on the
weather had to be absolutely perfect before firing the next shot. As a result we had a lot of time to just lay around and wait. It was almost like an extended vacation.
I hope we never ever experience what atomic war would do the world. Although
50 years have passed since witnessing those shots they are just as vivid as they were 50 years ago.
Lawrence Leeper
USS LST 1157
Email: LeeperLE@aol.com
Keith Whittle
August 24, 2004
[ Operation Castle ]