Operation Castle
US Atomic Veterans
Ernest Morgan
Ernest Morgan sent email about his duty at
Operation Castle.
From: Morgan833@aol.com
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2000
Subject: Atomic Vets
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
Hi Keith
My name is Ernest Morgan and I served in Navy Mats Squadron VR7 which
was stationed at Hickam AFB Hawaii. During my tour from March of 53 to June
of 55 my duty was as an airborne radio operator aboard Navy R5D and R7V (Super
Constellation) type aircraft.
According to my flight log book I made 38 stops at
Kwajalein, 40 at Johnston and 4 at Eniwetok. My trips to Eniwetok were on 13
March 54, 6 April 54, 27 April 54, and 29 September, 54. On 4 May we were on Johnston.
We did remain overnight on Eniwetok on some of the flights but I do not recall which flights. I never did witness any of the shots but we must have been
there soon after. All of our flights were cargo and I remember that we were
issued dosimeters. We were never told the results of their testing and I don't
know what happened to them.
The flight to Eniwetok on 6th of april was unusual
in that it was direct from Hickam to Eniwetok. Usually we made a stop at Kwaj
and then continued on to Eniwetok the next day. Of course we did not know what
we carried out of Eniwetok and nobody asked. The flight time to Eniwetok
direct from Hickam was 12 hours. One way in an R7V. During my tour we visited
Johnston, Kwaj., Guam, Midway, Wake, Iwo Jima, Tokyo, Clark Field, Sagion, Fiji
Islands and Bankok. We also flew to Travis, AFB in California.
After leaving the Navy
I enlisted in the Air Force until my retirement. During my Air Force time I
worked on heavy ground radar and was an instructor at Keesler, AFB for about 4
years. After my retirement at age 40, I had to have cataract surgery in both
eyes. I think this was caused by working on radar. At age 61, I had prostate
cancer and at age 67, I had bladder cancer. So far I have had good care from
the VA. I have really enjoyed your web site and have spent hours reading of
the experencies of the men who sent in their emails. I would like to have
the videos of the Castel Operation. I would love to hear from other Navy
Mats crew members.
Thanks for your quick response and keep up the good work. I am sure you have brought a lot of memories back to all of us that participated in these operations.
Thanks again.
Ernie Morgan
Email:Morgan833@aol.com
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