Operation Greenhouse
Buster/Jangle
Operation Ivy
US Atomic Veterans
Ruben Martinez
Dear Keith:
I will try to fill you in with some of the things or events that I recall.
As you know it has been a long time and my memory of what happened might be
a little dull. Here goes anyway:
From: rubinm@sbcglobal.net
To: "'pdxavets@aracnet.com'" pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: Reply for request for details from experiences in Greenhouse, etc
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2000
Click on the pictures
for a larger view
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Some of the troops
of the 4th Trk. on board the ferry about the end of Sept. 1950.
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Greenhouse, Eniwetok. I really do not recall just when we arrived, but I do
recall that we went over on a ship and many of us, including myself, really
got seasick. Those in charge were not too kind with us. We had to get out
of bed even though we were at the point of throwing everything out. We stopped
over in Honolulu for about 8 hours, and were allowed to go on shore.
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One of the "Army" Ferrys used to shuttle troops
between old Camp Stoneman and San Francisco.
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When
we did arrive at Eniwetok, we had to empty everything in order for the MP's
to look over and see what we had and if we did have something we were not
supposed to, we had to turn it in to them.
I recall that when we arrived there that there was an Army Engineer Co. and
our truck company came to relieve, I believe they were shipped to Korea.
Our living quarters were on the other side of the island a distance away
from the motor pool. There was also a Transportation Co. I believe it was
the 511th, but I would not swear to it. We basically just drove the trucks
around the island. Who ever needed a truck we did the driving. The
Transportation Co., did most of the hard labor when they were not busy
unloading ships that came in either with equipment or "reefers" that brought
supplies, food and fresh fruits, mostly Washington Apples, I really enjoyed
the apples. I was one that was usually assigned to truck that which was
unloaded from the reefers.
As I recall, during our stay for Greenhouse, we worked 6 days a week. When
it got close to the "drops", I used to drive a water truck and I would water
down the airstrip at night. This was done in order that the reflection of
the lights could be seen as planes were landing and taking off. Sundays
were our regular days off, unless we had some special duty.
I have heard and read that during Greenhouse there 4 shots. I can only
recall two. The first one, our platoon was assigned dark goggles. We had
to get up really early in the morning and we were march to the other side of
the motor pool to a small pier. There we sat, close to the water and waited
until the bomb went off. I don't know if the "long" part of the island was
north and south and the "narrow" part was east and west. As you know, the
island of Eniwetok was not too wide, but it was about 2 miles long.
On one
extreme end of the island, I will call it north was some building and if we
were to wade across the water we would be on some small island where most of the
civilians lived. The second drop that I recall, we were taken to about the
middle of the island, perhaps closer to the the "north" part, and we were
made to sit down. This time it was not as early as the one mentioned above.
I do recall that on this one the island of Eniwetok rocked! I don't recall
that happening on the first one. As I have already mentioned, I only recall
two drops.
When we returned to the states after this operation, it must
have been around July, we replaced a truck company in Camp Stoneman, CA.
Later that year we, could have been around September of 1951, we went to
Camp Desert Rock. I recall that we drove our "old" 2 and 1/2 ton trucks to
Camp Roberts, CA and we left them there and we picked up brand new dump
trucks to take to Camp Desert Rock. The same day we arrived there, a bunch
of us got on a bus and we went back to Camp Roberts to bring our old trucks
and some cooks and their equipment for cooking.
The first week we were there was not too bad, but afterwards it really got
cold. I would venture to say that we were issued the wrong sleeping bags.
We slept in tents and on folding cots, the cold just came up from the bottom
and I, for one, used newspapers to try keep the cold from coming up. We
were there for about a couple of months. I recall that we had to haul
Airborne troops to the drop site, so we had to get up real early in the
morning. We drove the troops near the drop site and we saw the bomb went
off, and not too long after, we drove the troops right to the center of the
drop site. I recall that we had another drop while we were there in Camp
Desert Rock, but I really do not remember much about it.
After our "tour" in the desert, we went back to Camp Stoneman and we again
did our regular job, mostly that of taking troops to the ferry where they
were loaded and were taken to San Francisco and from there to Korea. We did
that for about three months, and I believe that we left again for Eniwetok
in the month of February. When we arrived at Eniwetok, some of the men
that were in our outfit during operation Greenhouse, decided to stay and get
out of the 4th Transportation Truck Co., were still there and I recall we
had a great reunion at one of the bars.
There is not much that I can say about our time there during Operation Ivy.
We did about the same thing as before, except that this time we had more
time off. We only worked up to Saturday noon, before we had to work all day
Saturday. After a while I was assigned to kind of manage the paint shop, so
I was usually stuck there all day. I do recall and incident when a B-29 did
crash right close to the paint shop. The paintshop was just next to the
airstrip and I could see the planes land and take off. I was
on KP when this happened, so I did not see the B-29 crash. However the
next day that I went to the paintshop, the plane, or what was left of it,
was right next to the paint shop. It was all burned up.
Because I worked
in the paintshop and because I had done some "art" at school, I was asked to
do some signs. One sign that I had to do was to honor a Lt. Everrett, I
believe that was his name, who was killed when his single engine plane
crashed. I really do not know the details, but I had to make the sign. I
found out later that I had mispelled his name and a real sign painter from
Parry Island, a civilian, came and did it right. I never claimed to be a
sign painter.
I am told that during Operation Ivy that there was more than one drop.
Again, I only recall one. That was on November 1, 1952. It was the first
H-bomb that was exploded. We had to get off the island and we were assigned
to a ship. I guess we were about 35 miles away. I did not get any goggles,
but the flash was pretty bright, even with eyes closed and back turned away
from the blast. I did not see my bones in my hands as some have claimed
that they did, at least I don't recall. The next day, I believe, we were
back on the island. We were there, that is I was there until March. We
were flown out and we stopped at Johnston Island and from there
we headed to Hawaii. We could have stopped at Kwajalein. From
there we flew to Travis Airfield and then to Camp Stoneman to wait to be
discharged.
I do recall while there for Operation Ivy, we did have a typhoon hit the
island. I remember that we were told to go to high ground. High ground?
If we were 10 feet above sea level, I say we were high. We were also told
that the force of the the typhoon was not going to hit us, from what I
understand, Eniwetok was not in typhoon area, that it was just the tail end
of it. Let me tell you, I sure was glad that it was not the full force of
the typhoon that hit us. Just before we were marched to the "high" part of
the island, I went to my tent to go get something. I hear all these guys
calling me to get out. I rushed out and was running and looked back and the
tent was following me! The water just pushed the tent right after me. The
next day when I went to work, the airstrip had these huge rocks all over.
The water must have just gone over the airstrip.
Well, Keith, I better quit for now. I just don't know what else to say. Maybe
later on I can remember some of the other things. All I can say is that
most of us were just young kids. We were green, at least I was and I did
not pay to much attention as to what was going on. We were told not to tell
anyone about what we did or saw, in fact I believe that we had to sign a
paper stating that we would not do it. I kind of wish that I had kept a
daily log or diary, but that is over with. I don't really know if the
government will ever do something for the Atomic Veterans, over 45 years
have passed since I was there. If something were to happen to me, say
cancer or what have you, how could I prove that it was related to being
exposed? The government should just do something for all of us, whether we
are hurting or not. We were guinea pigs! Well who knows what is going to
happen. You take care and thanks for everything.
Ruben Martinez
rubinm@sbcglobal.net
--Keith Whittle
January 24, 2000
Operation Greenhouse
Operation Buster/Jangle
Operation Ivy
