Operation Tumbler/Snapper
US Atomic Veterans
James R. McClintock
From: "James R McClintock" n0cwp1@netINS.net
To: "Keith" pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: Re: atomic test
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002
Hi, Keith.
I'll fill you in on what I know
about my experience. I was in the Marines from Feb. '51 to Jan. '54. I was
in Easy Co., 2nd BN. 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Div. I went through boot camp
at Paris Island South Carolina.
After bootcamp I was transferred to Camp
Pendleton. I lived Tent Camp 3, while there in California. Sometime in
1952, I was assigned to Atomic Energy Commision Proving Grounds in Yucca
Flats, NV. I witnessed several atomic exposions and was part of a mock
air-ground assault on an objective near the center of the impact area.
Specialty: I was a machine gun unit leader with maybe 40 Marines under my
command. I was promoted to Sergeant June 10th, 1953. I was shipped to
Japan in Aug. '53 until Jan. '54.
The tests that I witnessed would
therefore have been between April-May '52 and Aug '53, but I can't remember
exactly when. We trained with an assualt battanlian in California, when we
got to Nevada, we loaded the same personnel on the choppers that we did in
California, and they couldn't get off the ground because the desert air was too
thin, so we had to drop off two men from each chopper in order to get off
the ground. This messed up the whole operation.
I remember we went up and
looked at all the equipment set up at and around ground zero, both before
and AFTER the bombs went off. Some were tower explosions, and some were air
drops. The last one we witnessed, we were less then two miles from ground
zero. When we stood up in our foxholes after the blast, we saw that the
plants in the desert were on fire!!
I'm 69 years old and have had colon
cancer and my son had a severe congential heart defect. I am filling out
the compensation paperwork that will be submitted to the Dept of Justice and
could really use your help in pinpointing the exact dates I was there.
Thank you.
Jim McClintock
n0cwp1@netINS.net
--Keith Whittle
January 21, 2000
Operation Tumbler/Snapper